


red bull gives you wings

by qauux7



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Street Racing, lots of fluff, mentions of depression and emotional abuse, no beta we die like men, not really as angsty as u think, not really enemies, or at least not for that long lol, soft boys!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23852539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qauux7/pseuds/qauux7
Summary: One races to feel while the other races as an escape. The story of how two bull-headed idiots collided and learned to fly.or my attempt to fill my sudden need for aokaga and light angst with a nice happy ending.
Relationships: Aomine Daiki/Kagami Taiga
Comments: 55
Kudos: 77





	1. Your Name and You

**Author's Note:**

> story inspired by this pic, as prompted by @that-aint-it-chief on tumblr
> 
> artist cred @angenl00

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't know much about motorsports, but I did look some stuff up to be more accurate and help the story progress. I definitely tweaked some details to how I wanted though haha.

“And the two rookies of the season are going head to head in the last stretch of the track! Incredible! Neither is giving any slack….AAAAAAANNDDD did anyone catch that? It was too close of a call even for me. It looks like we’re going to need the slow motion roll to catch the winner.” 

“AOMINE DAIKI, EVERYONE. Once again, this incredible rookie has stolen the show. He’s been on a winning streak ever since his debut at the Super GT race last year. Ever since, he’s been steadily claiming the spot as crowd favorite. And what a feat for a rookie year, almost unheard of. No one’s been able to come close enough to even eating his dust, but what do we have here?”

“Looks like the returnee recruit Kagami Taiga was worth every penny he was paid for. Like Aomine, this is his second year racing in the big leagues. He spent the last year in America racing in the renowned NASCAR Cup Series. Although he wasn’t able to snatch away gold, his career is looking immensely bright. It looks like he might offer some stiff competition for our resident speed devil, Aomine, in the Super GT500 race this year. With that, qualifiers have ended. I can’t wait to see how the series continues!”

The commentator’s voices edged in the periphery as Kagami pulled into his pit stop and exited his car. He clicked his tongue, berating himself. How embarrassing. He shouldn’t have been so naive as to think there weren’t skilled racers in Japan. He had been blindsided this time, but he wouldn’t let down his guard in the real race. 

Taking off his helmet and shaking his head to rid of the excess sweat, Kagami looked around for the red and black Nissan GT-R that bested him this time. “Hey, Red Bull. What’s your name?” He called out, voice strong hoping to come off as nonchalant. 

“Hah?” The other racer turned around. And wow uh--Kagami instinctively straightened his shoulders. He’d never come across someone with such a wild scent of power. If he was going to be honest, it made him want to shiver, but Kagami had never been the type to turn down a challenge. He had a gut feeling this that was a fight worth picking. 

“Who are you?” The guy drawled, looking anything but interested in the racer standing in front of him. A little thrown off but not enough to back down, Kagami kept pushing. “Kagami Taiga. I was neck to neck with you earlier.” “Who cares? I don’t remember seeing anyone near me.” The guy starts picking at his ear with his pinky. Kagami grit his teeth. Who did this fucker think he was? 

“Your name.” He all but spat out. “Was that a question?” The tanned racer raised a sharp eyebrow mockingly. God, how could anyone be so infuriating. 

“Am I not speaking Japanese? What’s. Your. Name.” The blue head snorts. “You call that Japanese?” He really shouldn’t have bothered. If he knew it was going to be this difficult to get a name from the other, Kagami would have asked someone else before getting involved. But it was too late to turn back now, he didn’t want to seem like a loser coming over to make pointless conversation and leaving without getting what he wanted. 

So with fists clenched, Kagami swallowed his frustration and bared his teeth. “Tell me your name. Please.” He tacked on in some resemblance of respect. 

“Quit trying to play nice before you hurt yourself, Tiger.” TIGER?! The redhead male sputtered, face quickly trying to match his hair color as his temper flared. The other had no right to go calling him by that name. His stomach twisted before he squelched the feeling. He wasn’t going to think about  _ that  _ right now.

Kagami’s fists clenched, doing his best to hold himself back from swinging at the other male. He didn’t want to cause a bad impression on his sponsors, who so kindly offered to pay for all his expenses to Japan. Closing his eyes and taking in another breath to cool his head, he thought about repeating the question once more even though he was quickly losing interest in the rude bluehead. He thought he could make friends to settle in quicker, but looks like it wasn’t going to be as easy as he had thought. 

While Kagami was lost in his head, he unconsciously loosened his body. Aomine noticed the slight change in stance and tilted his head, giving the other male a once over before deciding fuck it, who cares?

“Aomine Daiki.” 

And then he walked away. Kagami shook his head, turning away from the other as well. What was this guy’s problem? “Dai-chaaan. Hey hey, who’s your friend?” He glanced back one more time to see a small pinkheaded girl with long hair clinging to the aloof male. Though his pinky was once again picking in his ear, the male’s stance and aura was much more relaxed than earlier. In fact, seeing Aomine leaning on the smaller girl made him seem like a completely different person than the one Kagami just spent glaring down. “Who cares?” 

Kagami’s brow twitched. Nevermind, forget this guy. There were plenty of others he could befriend before he had to resort to an asshole like him. 

\--

So he said he was going to forget the guy, but it turned out to be much more difficult than he had thought. After going out that night with his new team to celebrate passing the qualifying rounds, Kagami would admit that he couldn’t help his curiosity for the other male. He couldn’t help but feel some kind of kinship with him despite how off-putting the other male was. But they looked to be about the same age and there was something about the way the other set his shoulders that made Kagami think that he understood the same loneliness that dragged over his weary body after a long day like this one.

Don’t get him wrong, he likes his new team. Everyone at Seirin was welcoming in their own quirky way, but he still felt estranged. It wasn’t often that others could get past his initial brashness. And even less that they stuck around for what was under the prickly cover. Kagami shook his head, to rid himself of the thoughts that would quickly spiral into something worse especially with the couple of drinks he had in him. In a spur of the moment decision, the redhead decided to take a walk to clear his head. 

The dull thudding of a basketball and the sound of shoes shuffling upon pavement broke into his wandering mind. Who would be playing at this time? 

Rounding the corner, Kagami sees a tall, lean figure driving towards the net before letting up into a loose lay up. His eyes couldn’t help but follow the quick transitions between the other player’s stances. An itch arose in his feet, drawing him closer to the court. He wanted to play. He wanted to  _ play.  _ At that thought, Kagami recoiled. When was the last time he thought that?

Sunken into his thoughts Kagami didn’t realize that the other male stopped playing upon hearing Kagami shoes scuffing when he took a step back. The other male was passing by him, basketball tucked into his side when Kagami saw the flash of indigo blue and snapped out of his senses. “Aomine?” 

The other male turned at his name. “Do I know you?” Kagami huffed in indignation at having been brushed off for the second time that day. “Kagami Taiga.” He gritted. 

“And? What do you want?” 

Perhaps it was the cover of night, or the couple of drinks he had in him, or the hard line of the other’s shoulders, and the guardedness he glanced in the others eyes, but for some reason, Kagami loosened his shoulders. “You play?”

Surprisingly, the other male didn’t deflect this time. “No.” And this time it was the tensed figure of the other that told him not to push. “Well, I don’t play either. Guess that’s something else I can compete and beat you in.” The light jab seemed to throw the other male off, but he just scoffed and continued on his way, throwing a gruff “Sure” over his shoulders. 

Kagami shrugged. Giving one last look at the court illuminated by the soft glow of the street lamp, Kagami turned back toward his hotel room. 

\--

“Kagami-kun.” A chill shot up his spine, tensing up his shoulders to his neck as he tried not to cause a commotion. A hand shot up to his chest, trying to calm his heart beat. He whirled around to see a quirk on the perpetrator’s lips. “Kuroko.” This man would be the cause of his early death, he swears upon his grave. “The race is starting soon. Are you ready?”

Kagami shot a quick glance at where Aomine was pointedly refusing to say more than three words at a time, as he had been all morning. Kagami had seen him a few times at the Pit Walk and other events in the circuit. The other really didn’t stand on ceremony. “Aomine has always been like that.” 

Kagami whipped his head back to glare at the other. “I don’t care about him!” He huffed, with no reply but the clear disbelief in Kuroko’s eyes. But the other boy thankfully reigned in his teasing. “Let’s go?” Kuroko raised a fist, which Kagami dutifully bumped.

Aomine’s team was pulling the same strategy in which they had the first driver take a third of the course, leaving up the rest to the ace. Kagami was practically bouncing in his shoes, ready to prove his strength. “Alright Kagami, you know what to do! Make sure you keep your line open.” Riko gave him a big slap on the back as he slipped on his helmet. 

Kagami had been making good time staying on Aomine’s tail and they were now in the last stretch. He pulled into the inside after a tight curve and slammed on his accelerator, his engine roaring. He chanced a glance to his right and clicked his tongue when he found that the other was still too close to comfort. Cursing under his breath, Kagami shifted gears and switched to nitrous. He gripped the wheel and urged his body forward as if it would help his car move that much faster, that much quicker. He was going to win this race if it killed him. 

And with a burst he crossed the finish line, releasing the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. His eyes shot around, looking for the scoreboard to see who came in first. But before his eyes could focus, shouts of his name from various people on his team were buzzing down the line and he grinned. 

Suck that, Aomine Daiki. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written in a looong time, so lmk what you guys think!! And I'll do my bestest to finish this work. It's planned to be maybe 10K words at least so here's to hoping I don't lose motivation midway again. fingers crossed!!
> 
> Also I don't know much about motorsports, but I did look some stuff up to be more accurate and help the story progress. I definitely tweaked some details to how I wanted though haha.
> 
> I think I'm going to try switching between their perspectives! So you can expect the next chapter to be in Daiki's perspective.


	2. Red

Red.

In his monochrome world, there was suddenly red. 

“Dai-chan?”

“Dai-chan??” 

With another call of his name and sucker punch to his left side, sound and resolution was brought back into his senses. Along with a blooming pain in his abdomen. “Ow. Satsuki. What the hell was that for?” 

“You lost.” She pouted. But he knew it was more confusion than frustration.

Confusion and red. He lost?

Daiki thinks he may have entered a permanent state of shock. No matter how many times he rewatches the highlights, it escapes his mind as to how he lost the race in Okayama. Despite his usual lack of focus on the outside world, all he remembers is red. 

Red on top of his omelet, red every time the bus stopped on his commute home, red in the neon lights of Tokyo, red in the fall of night when he was driving his car, red red red.

And then he lost. Even watching clips of the podium ceremony and the winner's interview, his eyes are focused on every minute detail of the redhead who came out of nowhere and forced his way into Daiki’s line of sight. 

Kagami’s bright eyes and smug look whenever he happened to glance Daiki’s way. 

He doesn’t know whether he should think of it as a fluke or what. It’s been so long since someone else entered his world that he didn’t know exactly what to do with himself. Even Satsuki had a hard time grounding him when he slipped. Daiki had spent so long with his head in the clouds, flying. 

It felt like lightning struck and now here he was. It was weird, and quite honestly a little awkward. After such a long period of sitting back, it was weird to have so much control of himself now. The closest had always been on the track, where the speed let him feel his heart racing, his blood pumping, and sweat running down his back. 

Funnily enough, he felt more lost than he had before. He didn’t think it was possible. And so Daiki did what he did best when he was lost. He threw himself further into the void. Old habits die hard. 

The rush, the zip of things passing by too fast for him to make out details, cutting out all those on his trail, that little bit of danger. When the sirens blared through the night, he grinned. This is freedom, he thought, and no one could ever take that away from him. 

With elation bubbling out of his chest, Daiki whipped it into the finishing area, tires squeaking at the abrupt stop. The streets will always be where he thrived. 

“Panther, man why are you even here? Aren't you playing it up with the big leagues now?” With one leg barely out of his car, Daiki looked up to see Njimura Shuuzou. He was the usual ringleader for races in the area and although they weren’t friends Daiki could admit to a friendly rapport with the older male at times. They had history after all, even if he was his captain for a short time.

“Gotta keep the little ones in check every now and then,” he teased. Upon hearing that, some petulant shouts of protest bursted from the crowd and the other racers pulling up behind him. “Yeah yeah yeah. I’ll listen to any complaints after you guys beat me.” 

“Here’s the prize money.” Nijimura tossed him a drawstring bag, which Daiki quickly threw back. “Don’t need it. Maybe pass it out to these kids so they can get some good modifications for fucks sake.” With a snort, Nijimura turned his back and thus opened up the path for the spectators to come rushing in. Despite the ego, the lot were a bunch of overeager kids if he had anything to say about it. Though they would all protest that he wasn’t that much older. 

Some were even older than him, but still everyone respected him for his skill and how he looked out for the younger ones. Well, “looked out for” might be a stretch. He just threw tips out every now and then and yanked them around like disobedient puppies to make sure no one ended up behind bars. After a couple years in the community, it was hard not to grow fond of them. It was nothing like basketball. After all, only the committed had the courage to come out this far. But still, it wasn’t enough for him.

Daiki was leaning against his car, half listening to the excited clamor of his followers when he saw red. Except this time, it was the object of his annoyance for the past week. What was he doing here? With that the sirens that had been in the back of everyone’s minds pushed to the forefront with the flashes of blue and red light. Shit. In an instant, everyone scrambled to get out of the vicinity. 

And Kagami was standing there wide-eyed like a freaking idiot. Cursing under his breath Daiki rushed over and latched onto his wrist. When the other opened his mouth in protest, Daiki threw a silencing glare over his shoulder and shoved the idiot into his car and slammed the door shut. 

“Are you stupid? You’re a pro. You can’t get caught by the police here.” Daiki shifted in gears and reversed out of the alley. He knew that the others would be fine. If not, someone would be shooting him a call tomorrow and he’d go bail them out. After all, the “Panther” had a reputation--of being protective of his cubs. Unlikely though it may seem, but Daiki didn’t want these fools to lose their place to go.

Daiki thinks that he may have broken Kagami. Instead of the expected snarky retort, the other had just asked “And you?” in slight wonder. “Hah? What about me?” Did Daiki throw him too hard? Did he hit his head? “So it’s okay if you’re here?” 

Were they playing twenty questions, he wondered. Daiki shot a glance at the other and quickly flipped his eyes back on to the road when he saw that Kagami was watching him carefully. But as he was wondering how to answer the question, Daiki realized he waited too long and decided to just keep his mouth shut. After all, he had no reason to explain himself to the other. 

Kagami snorted. “Do you know what kind of face you just made? Like you were satisfied with yourself for leaving me hanging. Are you a kid?” Suddenly, Daiki was burning up and was hyperaware that the other was riding with him. First off, he didn’t even know where they were going. And second, he wasn’t a conversationalist. He was definitely regretting getting caught up in the moment. 

“Shut up.” The other merely chuckled. “You’re not so bad, Aomine Daiki. When your heads out of your ass that is.” At that, Daiki whacked his arm over and luckily managed to hit the other’s face. All was right with the world. “Hey! What was that for you asshole!” Followed by a heavy punch to his shoulder causing him to swerve the car a little. “What the fuck man, I’m driving!”

“You started it!”

Red, huh?

\--

“Dai-chan!” 

“What.” His obvious lack of enthusiasm earned him a pout. But Satsuki was used to him brushing her off, just as she was used to brushing him off and she pushed on. “So I heard from a little birdy...” and he sighed, nothing good ever started off with that statement “...that you and Kagamin were --”

“Stop. Kagamin?”

“Yep.” She cheered with a pop of her lips. He sighed, knowing there was no getting out of this. Once Satsuki had her sights set on someone, it wasn’t likely that she would give up. And it looked like _Kagamin_ had gotten caught.

Daiki let her chatter on, knowing that if it was really important she would find a way to get his attention. Guess this Kagami Taiga was more interesting than he thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, unbeta-ed. Also, for some reason it's a lot harder for me to write in Aomine's perspective. I keep wanting to switch back to Kagami's so sorry that this is shorter than the last. I'll make up for it!! I know you guys might want more content, but I feel like it's not time yet lol. for some reason, I'm really bad at the whole enemies thing.


	3. Ahomine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woop! thanks for waiting until after I finished my finals!! here's a long chapter to make up for it :)

_Tatsuya:_   
_> > Good luck at your race today, Tiger. I’ll be waiting for you at the finish line like always._

And just like that, his little bubble broke. What was Tatsuya doing here? Kagami thought he had escaped from him after crossing the ocean. He whipped his head around trying to catch sight of the other male, heart pounding. With every head of black hair, his heart rate climbed. What does he do? What does he do?

“-gami-kun. Kagami-kun.” What does he do? First, deep breaths. He can deal with this. It’s okay. It’ll be okay. He can’t be working up a sweat before the race even began. Deep breaths.

“Kagami-kun!” Light blue filled his vision and suddenly the white noise was replaced with the chattering of people and the hum of engines.

“Kagami-kun. Are you alright?” Concern pooled in Kuroko’s eyes. Kagami clenched his fists to calm the shaking.

“Y-yeah.” He was just settling in. Kagami didn’t want to lose what he already had. Things had been going so well. He wasn’t going to let Tatsuya ruin everything for him like he did before. He wasn’t.

Kagami felt Kuroko’s eyes on him as they readied for the race, but he refused to meet the other head on. He always felt too exposed at the other’s gaze. Kagami was already doing everything he could to hold his frayed ends together. He didn’t want them to know about this. He didn’t want them to realize how weak he was.

Kagami ignored the frown he saw on the shorter’s face. He didn’t want to feel like a disappointment on top of this weakness. In the bouts of his panic, he felt like taps on his elbow and the other dragging him around. He trusted Kuroko and followed as he tried to get his shit together.

“Kagami. We’re changing up the strategy this round. Kuroko will run ⅔ this time.” Concernedly, Kagami didn’t even frown in protest, making Riko’s eyebrows furrow. She knew something was wrong. But there was nothing to be done with the race starting. Many looks of concern were thrown at the redhead sitting at the back of their pit stop with his head down and wringing his hands. The looks became increasingly anxious as time passed and Kagami’s turn was coming up. No one in their right mind would send out a distracted driver, but no one was brave enough to breach the other’s privacy.

Except Kiyoshi. With a strong hand on the redhead’s shoulder, Kiyoshi urged a bottle of water into the other’s hands. Despite the lack of words, the two exchanged understanding looks. Kagami closed his eyes, straightening his back and took a deep breath. He would worry about his problems later, right now his team was depending on him. When a faltering fierceness returned to Kagami’s eyes, Kiyoshi nodded and gave the other a clap on the back.

He would be alright; he would figure this out. When Kagami was finally strapped in, the last of his nerves faded. This was his safe space. He was free to fly here. And fly he did.

Perhaps a little too much, because he pulled in three seconds before Aomine, shocking everyone sitting in the stands and even his own team. There was a split silence. And then the crowd was roaring, the commentator’s voice going a mile a minute at this upset. He proved himself not to be a fluke. But even then Kagami didn’t care. His mind was still disturbingly blank.

Still worried about the odd behavior from their racer, his team waved off his end of the race interview. Kagami didn’t mind, he just wanted to be alone as soon as possible. He remembered a short conversation with Riko telling him that they would talk about it later, her face still tinged in both shock and worry. He just nodded, mind still adrift. He waved off the others, telling them that it was just an off day, that he had to go. He’d catch up with them later.

He began to quicken his step as he got closer to his hotel room. As he began to catch his bearing, he couldn’t stop the tremors building up in his body. His breaths shortening and vision narrowing.

What was he to do about Tatsuya?

Tatsuya, who was standing in front of his hotel room. Oh God. Oh God.

His mind was screaming at him to turn around and walk away before Tatsuya figured out that he was back, but his legs refused to listen to him. His hands began to break out in a cold sweat. Move. Move! Kagami felt like crying. Move, dammit, move!

Then, a comfortable weight settled across his shoulder and he was pulled into a warm, sturdy body. Initially tensing, his body relaxed unconsciously at the fragrance of eucalyptus.

“Tiger.” A deep voice rumbled in his ear, and just like that he was right back to his panic. Petrified with immense fear and shame. He had to get out of here, but just like before his body refused to listen.

  
“Oi. You deaf?” The arm slid off his shoulder, and soon Tatsuya’s body was blocked by a wave of sapphire. “Look, I hate to say I was wrong about you, but I was wrong about you. Looks like you weren’t talking out your ass when you said you’d knock me down a peg.”

Kagami began to focus in on the other’s rambling. What was happening right now? “Aomine?”

“Huh? Did you hit your head or something? Anyways, good race. I’ll see you around.” But when he felt the other beginning to slip away, Kagami shot out a hand and grabbed the back of the other’s shirt. “Wait.”

Aomine turned around, but Kagami’s mouth felt dry. Not knowing what to say, he opened his mouth to brush off his actions, hand loosening its hold.

But then pink and the sweet scent of sakura interrupted him. “Dai-chan, I think you should show Kagamin around! He’s a returnee you know! And I’m sure you’re both free and about to be very very bored. As your rival, you should take care of him.”

Kagamin?

Shaking off his confusion, Kagami moved to refuse the offer, not wanting to impose on the standoffish male who probably did have better things to do then play tour guide. He was sure that the other was about to spout off protests too with the way his eyebrows were turning down, but whatever Aomine was about to say was cut off with a hard elbow in the side. The Satsuki girl and Aomine were having a stand down consisting of lots of eyebrow movements and furtive glances between Aomine, Kagami, and Tatsuya?

He didn’t know what the girl knew but it was none of her business. It was rude but he was sure they’d get over it, so Kagami moved to get away from the two still locked in conversation. But then the two whirled around and each grabbed at his opposing shoulders, Satsuki with a look of mischief and Aomine with resignation. When they turned him around and pushed him towards the elevator, Kagami let out a sigh and accepted his fate.

It was a peaceful and slightly awkward two minutes in the elevator, until Satsuki opened her mouth. “I’m sure Dai-chan wasn’t polite enough to introduce me. I’m Momoi Satsuki. I have the misfortune of being his childhood friend and manager. Nice to meet you officially, Kagamin.” He stuck his hand out before he remembered this was Japan. His other hand went up to scratch his neck in embarrassment, but then Momoi-san grabbed his retreating hand with both of hers and gave him an enthusiastic shake. Although she let out a peal of giggles, he knew it wasn’t meant to be mean and relaxed. She was nice.

“Kagami Taiga.” He offered.

“I know! Kagamin was born in Japan and moved to America in the third grade because of his dad’s job offer and has been there ever since. You used to play basketball in college and in the minor leagues until you tore your ACL in your sophomore year and disappeared from media a year. Then you made your entrance in the world of motorsport racing! It’s very impressive that you made a name for yourself in your rookie season, especially at the NASCAR race. And even more impressive that you were recruited to race in Japan in that same year. I heard you were very generously sponsored by Ferrari who wanted to make a break in the Japanese market.” As Momoi-san rattled off, Kagami began to back away in slight fear. He knew that you could find out a lot of information about other people online these days but there were very few who actually did it to this extent. Plus, she mentioned basketball which was very much still a sore spot for him.

His back hit something solid and he turned to see Aomine on his phone. Aomine raised an eyebrow and he hurried to remove contact from the other. God, why did he agree to this. He didn’t even know these people, and why the heck was he sandwiched between them. With a roll of his eyes, Aomine tilted his head to make eye contact with Momoi-san. “Oi, Satsuki. Quit it, you’re scaring him off.”

“Oh, sorry Kagamin. I get carried away sometimes. I specialize in data gathering and analysis you see. It’s nothing personal, I just like to get a feel of Dai-chan’s potential rivals.” At her sincere apologetic look, he relaxed.

“It’s uh, it’s okay, Momoi-san. Why Kagamin though, uh if I may ask?” A snort sounded at his awkward attempt of politeness on his right but he ignored it for the endeared smile on Momoi-san’s face.

“Kagamin is so cute. You don’t have to be so polite, but Dai-chan can definitely learn a lot from you!” There was a shout of protest from the other male that they both chose to ignore. “I like to give nicknames to people who’s strength I acknowledge.” For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of weight to that sentence and it filled Kagami’s heart with warmth and pride. It’s been a long time since someone called him strong and said it as something admirable instead of fearsome. It was a good feeling. Maybe, these two weren’t so bad.

“Well I haven’t acknowledged him yet.” Kagami corrected his last statement. Maybe Momoi-san’s acquaintance wasn’t too bad.

“Thanks, Momoi-san.” He tilted his head in gratitude.

“Please, you can drop -san!” She grinned, earning a blinding grin back.

“Anyways, where are we going? It’s already evening.” Kagami asked her.

“That’s for me to know and for you two to find out.” Oops, Kagami forgot the other boy existed.

“As long as there’s food involved,” Kagami shrugged. He had never been to this prefecture before. But when 45 minutes had passed and they were still on the train, his stomach began to growl in protest.

“God, Kagami what kind of muffler do you have in your system?” Kagami cheeks flushed.

“Shut up, you- you- Ahomine! You didn’t say it was this far! Where are we even going!” The other sputtered at the derogatory nickname, but Kagami thought it was well deserved. Nothing got in between him and his food. And after the emotional rollercoaster he had gone through today, the redhead was ravenous.

“Well, I was thinking we could get food after. But I didn’t think Bakagami was gonna be this hungry already. I’ll check when the sex museum closes.” Aomine pouted. Despite the flashing thought that the other looked cute like this, Kagami’s ears flushed a glaring red.

“The WHAT?” He shouted. When the other went to repeat what he said, Kagami merely waved him off. He had heard what he said, there was just no way. What was wrong with Aomine? And why the hell did he think going anywhere with this fool was a good idea?

While Kagami sat frozen in shock, Momoi simply smiled. “Dai-chan.” At the vein throbbing on her forehead, both boys shrank back in fear. No other words had to be said. “We’re getting off now.” And both boys followed without complaint.

As they wound through the streets, Kagami stayed in the safe zone, a couple steps behind the girl, with Aomine. “You idiot,” He whispered, too scared of getting caught in Momoi’s hearing range. It earned him a kick in his calf in retaliation.

“You’re the idiot,” Aomine whispered back just to be petty and Kagami knew it. So instead of replying with words, he chose to elbow the other in the ribs. Before he knew it, their exchange of blows had escalated to grabbing each other's clothing and hitting any body part he could while blocking with the same hand. They were both yelling insults through clenched teeth, still afraid of the wrath of the pinkhead girl.

“If you two are done making out back there, let’s go in.” They both stopped fighting, getting ready to protest, only to see that Momoi had already gone inside the restaurant. The boys looked at each other and immediately put distance between them when they noticed how close they were.

Kagami coughed, refusing to even look in Aomine’s direction. “Let’s go inside.” He only got a grunt in reply. Kagami chose to sit across from Momoi thinking that Aomine would want to sit next to her and there was no way he could make it through dinner if he had to look at the other boy. But then Aomine chose to sit next to him.

Was it hot in here or was it just him? Kagami pulled at his collar in discomfort. Well, at least he didn’t have to look at the bastard and ruin his appetite.

He heard a thump under the table and a grunt from the other male. Momoi’s death glare at Aomine transformed into a pleasant smile when she looked over at Kagami. He was at a loss. He never really had many female friends, or friends in general, so he was unsure how to act. Did he just ignore that Momoi likely just kicked Aomine in the shin?

“Kagamin, they have the famous Kokonoe Dream Burgers here. I think you’d really like it. They use local ingredients and I heard that they use Bungo beef, which is supposed to be really high quality.” Oh, this was a start to a beautiful friendship.

Choosing to ignore the gawks of his companions and pretty much everyone in the general vicinity, Kagami carried his 30 dream burgers back to his table on a tray. He was practically drooling, the smell of beef was impossible to resist. But he would do it because he had manners.

When everyone had their food, they all said their blessings and Kagami tore into his food. The other two stared with a mixed look of disgust and awe. It’s not like he was a messy eater, but the sheer volume made them feel sick. Aomine could maybe eat that much if he had been starved for 3 days, but it seemed like Kagami ate like this for every meal.

When the rate of food being devoured finally slowed down a little around Kagami’s fifteenth burger, Momoi broke the silence. And Kagami thumped his chest as he tried to swallow around his burger.

“First of all, I don’t know why I ever trusted Dai-chan to make plans. Second, I just want to let you guys know that the sex museum that Dai-chan was planning to drag us into was shut down awhile back. Also it’s getting late and I don’t know if we’ll make it back in time for the last train. So, we should make it a 1 night and 1 day trip before we go back! Let’s go to Yufuin and go to the onsen there. We can crash for the night and go exploring tomorrow, I know a few places that you two would like. Kagamin, are you fine with that? When are you planning to leave?” Momoi clasped her hands, acting coy like she didn’t already know his itinerary. Still Kagami played along.

“I’m going back to Tokyo tomorrow night.” The gleam in her eyes put him in defensive mode and he looked to Aomine for help. But the other boy only shrugged, as if he were already used to Momoi being pushy. God, this is why he was bad with females. He couldn’t say no to them, and they insisted on making him uncomfortable.

“Perfect!” She squealed. Kagami sighed and resigned himself to his fate.

On the train ride over, Aomine was still pouting. Kagami kept trying not to look at his lips, but for some reason he couldn’t. He didn’t think the other looked cute. He didn’t!

“Oh don’t worry about him, Kagamin! He’s just being a baby because he can’t go to that museum.”

“I’m not worried!”

Momoi only hummed, but he knew that it was meant to placate him. “I’m not!”

“Sure, Kagamin.”

“If you don’t stop being so cute, I might attack you in the onsen or in our hotel room tonight, Bakagami.”

“What the hell, Ahomine?!”

“I’m kidding.” The bluehead laughed at the redhead’s embarrassment. Kagami smacked him in the back of the head, mind racing.

Oh no. He didn’t think this through. He couldn’t have someone invading his space like that. The last person had been Tatsuya, and what a good state of mind that put him in. Kagami’s earlier tenseness was starting to come back.

“Hey. I’m really kidding,” Aomine whispered, nudging him in the side and snapping him out of it. “I’d only do it if you consent,” he smirked.

Oddly enough, the bluehead’s words put him at ease. But still, he wasn’t looking forward to these next 24 hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those who don't know, a muffler is used to change the sound of the exhaust of a car. despite it's name, there are some that can be designed to make that purr louder or more refined, it depends on which one you want!!
> 
> also please lmk what you guys think of the flow and stuff. are they getting friendly too fast? is this escalating too fast? i want to add a lot of depth to their characters, but i've never really written a long fic like this so it's kinda hard...  
> OH SHIT. the next chapter has to be in aomine's perspective huh. why have i done this to myself. WHY.


	4. breaching barriers

Red now bled into oranges and pinks. As the train rode, Daiki couldn’t help staring outside and seeing all types of things he wouldn’t have noticed before. Though it was dark, the city lights and luminescence from the stars made everything twinkle in a way it hadn’t in awhile. 

He snuck a glance at the boy who helped him see. He liked how he could push and meet with an equal force pushing back. He liked how the other’s roaring laughter could cause his lips to tilt. He had a feeling that they would be great friends. Kagami Taiga was the most fun thing he had encountered in a long while.

A ping brought his attention to the frown on the other boy’s face. His close attention to the other boy helped him notice the instant color drained from his face and the tight grip he held onto his phone. Whatever message he just got was not good. Using his shoulder to lightly bump the other’s, Daiki asked, “You good?” 

A grunt of affirmation sounded from the other but his shoulders were still tense. Well that just wouldn’t do. So Daiki did what he does best: be absolutely unbearable.

He threw his weight to the left and sprawled out in his seat right as they reached their stop and let out a long groan, while rubbing his belly. “I don’t know about you guys, but I have the BIGGEST food baby right now. I don’t think I can walk anymore. Carry on without me.”

His head hit the seat with a thunk. The bastard really just left him behind! He turned his head, mouth gaping in disbelief. He was immediately blinded by a flash of light. “Ooh, Kagamin. That’s a good one, can you send me that?” Satsuki giggled. 

He scoffed. How dare they? After all he did to cheer Kagami up out of the goodness of his heart. Crossing his arms, Daiki pouted. “Hurry up, Dai-chan! Or else we’ll really leave you behind.” But he was making a point, dammit. Daiki refused to concede. 

Then, a warm hand was tugging on his arm and pulling him out of the station with his feet still dragging. He was going to make this as difficult as possible. It was only right. “God, you’re like a big baby. How have you lasted this long?” The slightly out of breath voice from Kagami was enough to satisfy Daiki, and he suddenly picked up his slack making the other stumble forward. With a teasing grin, Daiki walked past the other and placed a hand on top of Satsuki’s head. “You can thank this one.”

He ruffled her hair teasingly and showered her with a fond smile when she complained. Really, it was thanks to Satsuki that he lasted this long. He knew that he caused her a lot of trouble when they were younger. And now, even if he didn’t feel like he had much to live for, Satsuki definitely gave him a reason to get up every morning. Still around an hour late, but he thinks getting up at all was a big pat on the back so yeah, he was really grateful for her presence. He owed her a lot, so Daiki would always go along with her requests. 

“Okay, you boys have fun! I’ll meet you two back at the room later. And yes, Dai-chan I’ll be back before midnight.” 

“Race you there!” Daiki took off running. A grin split his face when he heard thudding footsteps and felt Kagami’s creeping presence on the back of his neck. Daiki skidded around the corner and was only a couple of steps away from the entrance when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. Before he knew it, red rushed past him. “Cheater!” The rewarding laugh only made the smile on his face grow. Yup, really good friends.

As pre-established, Daiki was not a morning person. Even if he was excited for what the day would hold, it should be illegal for him to be up this early. Like they say, old habits die hard. So who the fuck set up an alarm at this time?! With a groan he blinked his eyes open and rolled over towards the offending sound. 

“Oi, Kagami. Turn off your stupid alarm.” Daiki rolled toward the other boy and slapped his shoulder. When he got no response, Daiki flung his arm again. Nothing. With a groan, he pulled himself up to go turn off the other’s phone. Only, it wasn’t an alarm. 

Tatsuya, huh? Whoever it was had been blowing up Kagami’s phone. There were at least hundreds of notifications from this guy alone. Thinking that it could be an emergency, Daiki tried once last time to wake up the other to no avail. So when this Tatsuya guy called again, he picked up.

“Kagami Taiga’s phone.” There was a brief period of silence, making him check the screen to see if this guy hung up.

“Oh. Is he busy right now? Can you tell Tiger to contact me when he can? It’s nothing too important, don’t worry.” Daiki let out a grunt of affirmation, and the call ended. Not thinking too much of it, he set the phone down and yawned. In the corner of his eye, he caught the time on the screen. 05:30. Too fucking early. He crawled back to his futon to catch some more sleep. Daiki’s last thought before drifting off was who the hell called at five thirty in the morning casually. Weird guy.

For the second time that morning, Daiki woke up abruptly. What was it about today, it was supposed to be a fun and relaxing day after yesterday’s race. Rubbing his eyes and yawning away the last remnants of his sleep, Daiki blearily opened his eyes and saw red. “Kagami?” The lack of response pulled him out of sleep quicker and he noticed the furious expression on the other’s face and a tight fist grabbing the collar of his yukata. What the fuck was going on here?

“Oi, what’s your problem?”

“My problem?” Kagami scoffed and grit his teeth, “What’s your problem? What gives you the right to answer my phone? Ever heard of personal property? Privacy? Who do you think you are, asshole?!”

“Alright my bad, my bad. Geez, if I knew you were going to get your panties in a twist over this I would’ve kicked you until you were awake.” The hand over his clothes just clenched tighter.

“Calm down, Tiger. Nothing happened. Your boyfriend said it wasn’t a big deal.” The second he said it, Daiki knew that he said the wrong thing. The hand that had been clasped over his clothes dropped, and his ass hit the ground. But more importantly, the warmth in Kagami’s eyes from last night was completely gone. It was like a shutter had just come down and closed Daiki out. 

“Calm down, he says. Oh, I’ll show you calm.” Kagami seethed through his teeth. The redhead turned on his heel and reached for his clothes from last night, ripping off the yukata. In a flash, the redhead was at the door. 

“H-hey. Where are you going?” Daiki was scrambling to change attire and follow the other. “Tiger? Look, I’m sorry. Won’t do it again.” He calls out, desperately.

Stopping to shoot one last icy glare over his shoulder, Kagami spit out, “Don’t call me that.” 

“Kagamin?” Daiki heard Satsuki in the hallway asking where the enraged redhead was heading off too. With a curse, Daiki stumbled over to the doorway, pulling on his socks. He nearly trampled over Satsuki when he turned.

“Oi, Satsuki. Where’d he say he was going?”

“Dai-chan, what did you do?” Satsuki huffed, arms propped on her hips. She opened her mouth ready to lecture him, but he cut her off.

“Please, Satsuki.” Upon catching the desperate look in his eyes, she conceded to save the lecturing for later. Daiki knew he was hardly ever this worked up, much less over someone he just met but it just didn’t sit right to him. The fact that he wasn’t even trying to push the other’s buttons, niggled something in his brain. Plus, he hated to admit it but he was becoming more than just interested in the redhead. Maybe, it wouldn’t even be too much of a stretch to say that he cared. 

With a look saying that they would talk about it later, Satsuki pointed down the hallway. “He said he wanted to catch some air outside.” Daiki gathered her in a hasty hug, and he knew that she understood that he was grateful. 

When Daiki made it to the entrance of the ryokan, he stopped to catch his breath and whipped his head around to survey the area to see if he could catch sight of the redhead. There!

“Oi, Kagami! Wait a second, dammit,” He reached a hand out to the other’s shoulder to turn him around. 

“What.” The other crossed his arms, glaring down at what must be a pathetic sight of Daiki catching his breath, hands on his knees.

With a deep breath, Daiki gathered himself. He never really was good at apologies, but he had been trying to be a more decent person for his parents’ and for Satsuki’s sake. Plus, he did kind of care for Kagami and he didn’t want to end their friendship before it had even started. “Look, you might not believe me but I really am sorry. I wasn’t trying to snoop in your business or anything. It’s just, your phone was blowing up around 5:30 this morning with messages and calls from that Tatsuya guy and I thought it might’ve been some kind of emergency. I tried to wake you up a couple times, but you’re a really heavy sleeper. So I picked it up for you just in case it was really important. But next time, I won’t do it because I don’t want to invade your privacy. Really, sorry Kagami.” 

Daiki knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop. He tilted his head down in a resemblance of a bow to show how sincere he was, but Daiki couldn’t help getting embarrassed. He brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck; it was one of his nervous habits. 

Even though he was looking down, Daiki didn’t miss the slight flinch the other did when he brought his hand up. Looking up with a frown, Daiki dropped his hand. Another flinch. His frown deepened. “Kagami?”

The other took another half step back and shook his head, as if warning Daiki not to prod. So he didn’t, putting it in the back of his mind to think about at a later time. “So yeah. I’m really sorry.” Daiki searched the other’s face. 

When Kagami turned around on his heel and kept walking, Daiki deflated. Damn, he really messed up huh? He was getting ready to head back to the ryokan so he could get Satsuki to comfort him, when Kagami turned over his shoulder. “You coming?”

Daiki perked up, earning a huff of laughter from the red head. Maybe things would be okay after all. “I’ll forgive you if you pay for meatbuns for all of us. Let’s go.” Daiki scowled, but fell into step with the other. 

_Satsuki:_

_ >>Hey knuckleheads, we have to head out soon! _

_Daiki:_

_[picture attached]_

_ >>Bakagami is currently buying out the convenience store to fill up his monster stomach. _

_Kagami:_

_ >>Who are you calling Bakagami, Ahomine?! I’m trying to drain your wallet. We’ll be back in 5, Momoi. _

Upon reading the message when his phone pinged, Daiki jabbed his elbow into the other’s ribs. The dangerous glint in Kagami’s eyes warned Daiki to make a break for it. “You can’t hit me, I’m holding the food!” He called out as he was dashing down the street. When the two made it back to the ryokan, Daiki grinned “I win!” An answering jab to his ribs elicited a pained grunt as Kagami grabbed the bag of food from Daiki. Rude. 

Satsuki had the itinerary for today planned to a T and suddenly Daiki was glad that Kagami bought all this food. It served as breakfast and perfect snacks to carry them over until lunch as Satsuki dragged them around. 

First was the hike up Mt.Yufu. It had been awhile since he had an opportunity like this to be immersed in nature, and Daiki loved it. Satsuki really knew him well. The sun was beating over their backs, but breathing in the fresh air, Daiki didn’t mind it one bit. Plus, the company wasn’t all too bad either. He and Kagami had challenged one another to a race to see who could get to the top. Neither of them had made it, neither wanting to leave Satsuki behind, but going all out like this was fun. 

Without realising it, Daiki was sporting a boyish grin on his face. It was only after Satsuki had snapped a few pictures of him that he noticed how happy he looked. Embarrassed, Daiki offered to take some for her to get himself out of the spotlight. When the three were satisfied with their pictures and the snack break they had once reaching the top, the trio headed down. 

The dry heat and slow pace down dried any sweat the boys had and so they decided to get to their next location without stopping by the onsens again. They were short on time after all.

The ride on the train over to Bungo Ono was quiet, yet comfortable as the trio rested. Until it was interrupted again by an onslaught of notifications to Kagami’s phone, who only frowned upon looking at his screen and turned it off. It must be Tatsumi, or whatever his name was.

Daiki caught Satsuki’s eyes over Kagami’s shoulders and they both frowned. She signaled for him to talk to Kagami and he sighed. Things were just going well again. He coughed lightly to get Kagami's attention, but let his eyes wander around. “You good?”

The other boy sighed, causing his two companions to share a look again. The slump in the redhead’s shoulders was noticeable, but they didn’t want to push and make Kagami shut down again. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. The other two slightly leaned in so their shoulders touched his, satisfied with how his body relaxed against theirs. Satsuki picked up her usual chatter, with a few quips from Daiki that would start lighthearted banters with Kagami. 

By the time they reached their stop, Kagami was more or less back to baseline. At some point, he had turned his phone on again though, in case he did get an important message. Every once in a while, a message would pop up that caused the other boy to frown just slightly but neither Daiki or Satsuki wanted to poke. Instead, they found random things to talk about to help the other boy get whatever was bothering him off his mind. 

It helped that they were exploring areas with bad cell phone reception. The sights also kept Kagami immersed into what they were doing. They took tons of pictures of the scenery and of each other goofing off. Daiki pretending to push Kagami into the water near the Harajiri Falls, Kagami sacrificing Daiki to the Godzilla statue near the Inazumi Underwater Cave, both of them scaring Satsuki inside the dark cave, all three of them praying at the Fukoji Temple with the carved Buddha cliff, and of course all the silly pictures that they took in the souvenir shops. By the time they were done exploring, the sun was starting to come down. 

Another ping from Kagami. Daiki stopped to intently watch the other’s mood just in case. “Ahh, my partner says I have to be back earlier than I thought so we can have a team meeting before heading back home.” 

“That’s fine, Kagamin! We were about to call it a day too. Do you think you have time for an early dinner before we head back? It’s gonna be an hour and a half to get back from here.” 

“Should be fine if we don’t take too long,” Kagami reassured. 

They settled on yakiniku even if they had Bungo beef the other day because how often did they come to Oita anyways, and who would pass up the opportunity to have the highest quality beef as much as they could. The smell alone was making the trio drool after a long day. At the first bite, the three of them couldn’t help closing their eyes and moaning in contentment. This was heaven on Earth. 

Soon, Daiki was fighting with Kagami over the cooked slices of beef despite their cheeks being stuffed like chipmunks. The barbeque was just that good. There was a reason why Oita Prefecture was renowned for having the highest grade of wagyu beef. 

And continuing the trend of the day, the peace was ruined with an insistent ringing from Kagami’s phone. The other swallowed his food with some difficulty and frowned. “I’m going to take this call, you two go ahead.”

Daiki looked at Satsuki and they both frowned. Daiki took this chance to fill Satsuki in on what happened this morning and they both agreed that this had to be the Tatsuro or whatever person that had been bothering Kagami all day. Daiki wondered if he should leave Kagami alone. He knew that the other boy could handle himself, but even the strongest person had times when they wanted someone else to rely on right? Daiki understood that feeling. Keeping everything inside was only a temporary fix for any problem. So when Kagami was taking longer than they thought, Daiki resolutely decided to go get the other boy.

As he got closer to the entrance, Daiki could hear a familiar, frustrated voice. “Look, Tatsuya, I don’t know what you want from me but you can’t keep contacting me like this. You’re not part of my life anymore and I don’t want you to be.” There was some silence as Kagami listened to what the other boy had to say. “No. Stop. You can’t just keep showing up in front of me and expecting me to drop everything for you. That time of my life is over. I’ve moved on.” 

Daiki stepped out when the silence stretched on to see Kagami with his phone clenched in one hand and a ring attached to his necklace on the other. Has that always been there? When he saw the other’s shoulders shaking, Daiki stepped closer hesitantly reaching out his hand. But before he could reach Kagami the other turned around. A shocked expression colored his face when he met eyes with Daiki, but there were no tears. Kagami’s eyes did look a little shiny, but nothing that Daiki felt like pointing out.

“Hey, we’re getting ready to go.” He figured that no one would be in the mood to eat anymore. He saw Kagami take a few calming breaths, saying nothing when a couple of them hitched. He just leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets as he waited for the other to collect himself. A few minutes later, Kagami gave him a gruff thanks and Daiki turned around to head back into the restaurant. He nodded to Satsuki that they were leaving and went to go pay the bill. 

As he was putting the money down, another hand reached out to foot the other half of the bill. Daiki turned around to look at Kagami imploringly, but the resolute look in his eyes made Daiki put his hands up in surrender. 

The ride back to their hotel was silent, with Daiki and Satsuki shooting concerned glances at Kagami every now and then. Until finally, Kagami gave in, sighing. “Remember the guy standing in front of my hotel door?” The two of them nodded. “He was my ex of seven years. We were childhood friends, but we ended really badly.” There were halting silences as Kagami told his story, but the two of them knew to wait patiently. 

“It’s part of the reason I accepted the contract and moved to Japan. I wanted to get away from him. It’s already been a year since we broke up, but he still bothers me.” Kagami grabs at the ring around his neck again. “We were close, but it can never be the same again. I don’t want to see him.” Kagami clasped the ring so tightly that his fist was white, all the blood having flowed out of it. The two continued to wait to see if Kagami was going to say anything else, but it seemed like he was done. 

Daiki sat quietly, processing what Kagami told him. This Tatsuya guy obviously didn’t respect Kagami’s boundaries, and there was just something about how Kagami always reacted defensively when it came to him that told Daiki there had to be more to the story that Kagami didn’t feel comfortable sharing yet. Looking at Daiki, he could tell that Satsuki had reached the same conclusion. Something about this didn’t sit right, but until they knew what it was the two vowed to protect Kagami. He was a good person and it looked like he had been hurt by this stalker dude for way too long. 

Just like that the two opened their friendship for a third. Long ago there had been another boy there, but this time they resolved to protect this one like they weren’t able to with the other. With a nod, the two bumped their shoulders again with Kagami’s. “You don’t have to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally some more info on Tatsuya and his relationship with Kagami!! how dare he hurt our maji tenshi!!  
> next chapter: Kagami's POV
> 
> so obviously, this fic is gonna be a lot longer than I thought because I want to develop the relations between the characters carefully. i'm like one plot point behind so we're still kinda on track, just added two extra chapters just in case. but looks like things are spicing up! lol at how racing is not that big of a factor....ahaa...i promise it'll get better lol and basketball will make it's way back in.


	5. breaking chains

Upon entering his hotel room, Kagami flopped onto his bed with a big sigh. He was glad that Tatsuya wasn’t waiting for him at the door. He was too tired to deal with anything else. Although he was grateful for the surprising support from Aomine and Momoi, he still spent a lot of emotional energy today. It was nice to just get some time by himself to recharge. 

Kagami laid there for what must have been 15 minutes, almost dozing off, when his phone pinged again. He sighed, who was it this time? Throwing a hand over to pick up his phone, Kagami answered, his voice still muffled with his head in his pillow. “Kagami-kun? We have a meeting in five minutes.” Right. He still had to shower and pack before his flight that night. Kagami counted to five and then pulled himself up. 

While Riko went over the race that day and the training regime until the next race in two months, Kagami and Kuroko were having a talk. Why Kuroko chose this time to corner him, he would never know. 

“So Kagami-kun, I heard you were hanging out with Aomine and Momoi-san all day. When did you three get so close?” 

“Well, I don’t think close is the right word for it…” Kagami trailed off, not really sure how to describe their acquaintance. He hoped Kuroko would just let him leave it at that but the other just continued to look at him with inquiring eyes. 

Kagami rubbed the back of his neck, “We’re more like people who happen to tolerate each other.”

“That’s what friends are called, Kagami-kun.” The dryness of Kuroko’s voice made Kagami wince just slightly, but for once he had no rebuttal so maybe Kuroko was on to something. 

The shorter boy smiled knowingly, “Well, I think it could be good for all three of you.”

“You seem like you know them well.” 

“Mmm, not really,” the other boy hummed. Maybe it was just Kagami, but the shorter boy seemed a bit wistful when he said it. Kagami wanted to pry, but it didn’t seem like the right time. 

“Hey! You two in the back! Have you been listening to me at all?!” Riko’s authoritative voice rang through the room. The boys shared sheepish looks and backed away from their demon-faced manager. 

-

And for a while, Kagami thought it was the last of the blue raspberry and bubble gum combo. He had settled into his normal mid-season lifestyle with ease: early morning runs and gym workouts, racing on the track until mid-afternoon, and then meetings with his team until evening. Kagami would spend the rest of the night exploring the streets of Tokyo and then repeat. 

After a week and a half, he was starting to get bored. Even playing basketball wasn’t enough to cure his boredom without an opponent. Tonight, he thought maybe a night in watching some of his favorite basketball games would be better than wandering the streets alone. He had always been the type that got along well with others but had few friends.

His peaceful night was then interrupted by a notification. And then another. And another. Biting his lip, Kagami hoped that it wasn’t Tatsuya. 

_ Momoi: _

_ [picture attached] _

_ Kagamin! Are you free right now? _

_ Aomine: _

_ Oi! What the fuck kinda picture is that! Delete this now, woman!  _

Kagami huffed, lips quirked up. It was an ugly ass picture of Aomine picking at his ear. He looked like a disgraceful monkey if Kagami was to be honest. 

_ Kagami: _

_ Yeah wassup? Thanks for the blackmail btw, Momoi.  _

_ Aomine: _

_ I’ll kill you both. _

_ Momoi: _

_ [video attached] _

_ Kagamin, help! Dai-chan has gone rabid. _

It was a video of Momoi running away from the angry shouts of Aomine until a tanned arm hooked around her neck. Kagami was concerned for a split second until he heard Aomine’s voice telling her off as he aggressively ruffled her hair before the video abruptly ended. He would only admit it in the emptiness of his apartment, but the video made him smile, if not for the stain of loneliness growing deeper.

_ Kagami: _

_ You should call animal control _

_ Aomine: _

_ Ha ha. Very funny. Get your ass over here so I can beat u up too, too. _

_ Kagami: _

_ Ooh I’m so scared. What are u gonna do? Pet my head? _

_ Aomine: _

_ Why don’t you come find out? Or are you a chicken? _

Somehow, he just knew that Aomine was sneering. Aomine was the last person who was allowed to make a fool of him. He grabbed a light jacket and his keys just as Momoi dropped the location. Kagami left his house with a grin on his face.

After the first time, Kagami found himself hanging out with the duo almost every night. On some days, Momoi would be busy and it would just end up being him and Aomine but he didn’t mind. The two had developed an easy friendship. More often than not, they hung out at a Maji Burger or at each other’s apartments. Sometimes, Kagami cooked them dinner and was rewarded with a boyish smile from Aomine for the delicious food. And if the genuine praise from the other boy made his heart swell, well then he just liked being complimented on his cooking skills. No biggie. Plus, he appreciated the other washing the dishes for him. Domesticity had a way with his heart, okay?

Today, the boys had Maji Burger since Kagami’s practice had been too grueling to cook his own food. Riko has been quite merciless lately; all his team members were being run ragged. So after pigging out, the boys decided to go on a walk to help their food digest. They were walking in comfortable silence when Aomine turned to Kagami. He waited to see what the other boy was going to say. Kagami found that sometimes Aomine wasn’t sure how to word his thoughts and he needed the extra time. Kagami didn’t mind waiting. 

“So...uh. Is Tatsuya still bothering you?”

Kagami spared a glance at the other to try and gauge what was on his mind, but it just seemed like concerned curiosity. He decided to answer honestly.

“He still bothers me every now and then, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” 

“You shouldn’t have to deal with that at all,” Aomine frowned. Kagami merely shrugged in response. Yeah, he didn’t. But he couldn’t bring himself to block the other boy. Tatsuya had been someone special to him after all, but he didn’t expect anyone to understand. 

The two had walked over to a park with an abandoned basketball court. Kagami was planning on continuing on by when he spotted a worn ball lying in the corner. It still had a decent amount of air. He spun it on his finger as the other merely watched.

“What’s it matter to you anyway?” Kagami asked. He dribbled the ball over to the free-throw line of one side of the court. It was easier to have heavy conversations if he wasn’t looking at another person in the eyes. Plus, he could play it off easier if Aomine hit a nerve. 

“It’s just, you seem more tired than usual.” The blue head mumbled.

“What’s that, Aomine? Do you actually care about me?” Kagami teased, shooting the ball. It circled the rim but still went in. Kagami bent over to pick the ball up but froze in place at the other’s next words.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Despite the annoyed tone, Kagami still felt his heart picking up speed. 

“You can be really sweet sometimes, Aho. Warn a guy will you? I could get a heart attack and die. Then who will challenge you on the track?” Kagami teased. He resumed his shooting stance. 

“Okay. Warning: It’s because it’s you.” 

The ball bounced off the rim. Kagami whirled to face the other boy, mouth gaping like a fish and his face hot enough to be steaming. He was met with a cheeky grin as Aomine scooped up the ball and shoved him out of the way. Kagami stared incredulously as the other boy lobbed the ball at the backboard and it went in with a swish.

“You’re a little shit,” Kagami growled. Shoving the other back and moving to get the ball again. But just as he was standing up, a tanned hand slapped the ball out of his hand. He was ready to tell the other boy off, but Aomine was looking at him with a playful look as he dribbled the ball between his legs. 

Kagami grinned sharply, didn’t play basketball his ass. And the boys took off towards the other end of the court, moving back and forth like a coordinated dance. 

“You’re not bad.” Aomine managed, collapsing against a bench alongside the court.

“Could say the same for you,” Kagami huffed out. 

It was quiet save for the sound of both boys trying to catch their breath and the cries of the cicada. As Kagami was wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt, a closed fist entered his periphery. He looked over to see Aomine staring at the court, ears red but his fist extending towards Kagami. He grinned and knocked his fist against the others.

It happened without any fanfare, but basketball slipped its way into their hangouts. Although left unsaid, both boys seemed to understand the significance of them setting up matches so regularly. Sometimes, Aomine would even initiate. No matter how offhandedly or nervously he said it with his shoulders tensed up around his ears, Kagami always agreed and never pried. They’ve spent whole days racing back and forth on the courts without even realizing it. 

When Momoi found out she bought him a tower of cheeseburgers from Maji Burger, eyes wet. She told Kagami the food would do for the time being, but she and Aomine would get him a proper gift later. Aomine had scoffed at her saying she was making a big deal out of nothing, but her watery smile when he ruffled her hair was all Kagami needed to understand that she was beyond grateful and relieved. 

“It’s no biggie.” He would always insist, but when she brought up all the free meals that Aomine had mooched off for him (including compensation for all the one on ones Kagami lost), Kagami just accepted the Red Air Jordan 1’s with a bright smile. 

Every once in a while, Aomine would drag Kagami out to a street race with him saying that the other boy needed to learn how to live and that it was too dangerous to bring Satsuki out. They both knew that she could take care of herself, but Aomine was overprotective like that and didn’t want any of the youngsters leering at her. Aomine did know best how bad their manners were. 

“Yo, Kagami. Bring your car and go to the address I sent you. Surprise, I signed us up for a race!” Sometimes, Aomine could be a little too spontaneous. All the other times Kagami just went to watch. He was still new to the area after all. But as always, Kagami took it in stride. He always had fun after all.

“Watch out, Panther. They’re gonna be crowning a new king of the streets.” Kagami smirked.

“Shut the hell up, Bakagami. This isn’t anything like track racing. You’re gonna eat my dust.”

Kagami scoffed. “You think I haven’t street raced before in America, Ahomine?”

“Oh yeah? Then hurry up and come put your money where your mouth is, loser.”

“Loser? Who won the last circuit? Oh that’s right, me.”

“Eh. Lucky break.”

When Kagami got to the address, a big crowd had already formed on the streets. He inched his car towards the center, trying to find Aomine. When he spotted the navy blue car with the silver wings running along the body, Kagami pulled in next to him. Aomine slouched over his driver side door, leering.

“Hey so you still don’t know the streets well right? Just follow me. If you can keep up that is.” Kagami punched the other boy’s shoulders just to wipe the smug look off his face. 

“Yeah yeah yeah. Watch your tail lights, ‘cuz I’ll be pulling ahead before you know it.” The other boy grinned at his challenge. They were always like this, whether it was eating, racing, or basketball. Aomine kept him on his toes and he enjoyed every second of it. 

Kagami had to admit, it would be a little difficult because he didn’t know the streets as well as the others. But something in his gut said that he would be unbeatable today. He felt his skin tingling and as he caught Aomine’s eye at the starting line, a feral smile erupted. 

There was just something about the thrill of street racing that made Kagami feel like he was floating. He guesses that’s why he named his baby Cloud 9. 

The street lights of Tokyo were something else. Zipping by, Kagami had the idle thought of opening his window and letting the wind filter through his hair. Save that for later though because he had a race to win.

Kagami was a bit behind Aomine who had zoomed off at the start and zipped through the streets with ease. Right now he was going head to head with a lime green Mitsubishi Eclipse. They were both pretty evenly matched and were having trouble losing the other. Whenever Kagami made to pass the other car, they would turn in as if to block his way. And of course, Kagami returned the favor. It wouldn’t do him any good to fall behind the other after all. Although he was getting a little frustrated, Kagami had been up against worse before. And he was nothing if not assertive.

Seeing a big bend up ahead, Kagami saw his chance. He eased up on the gas pedal and steered over to the inner bend. When he saw the other car pull ahead, he smirked. Right as they reached the start of the turn, he slammed on the gas pedal and whipped the steering wheel to pull into a tight drift. The other driver lost control of his car and took a wide turn giving Kagami all the space he needed. Perfect. 

Easing up on the gas and straightening out his car, Kagami fish-tailed for just a bit, and the second it stabled out he shifted gears and hit the nitro switch, shooting far ahead. A glance at his rearview mirror showed the lime green car far behind, still recovering from the wide turn. His eyes flicked back to the front, catching sight of Aomine’s deep blue tail lights. He pushed down harder on the gas pedal, eager to catch up to the other.

Watching his rival from behind, Kagami admired how smoothly the other drove. It was like seeing a fish in water. Even turns seemed like a small matter. But as Kagami neared the other, he noticed a little shakiness due to impatience. He was going to win this one, he felt it. Kagami was hyperfocused on every detail and both his condition and Aomine’s. 

Aomine’s turns were impossibly tight, leaving no room for Kagami to wedge his way in there without causing damage to both of them. He clicked his tongue. There had to be another way to pull ahead of the other. Right now, they were racing side by side, with Aomine’s advantage. 

They were nearing the end of the race, but still Kagami felt confidently calm. His chance would come. In the last stretch, there was another wide turn into a straightaway where the finish line waited. 

As they were turning, Kagami saw his chance. The straightaway was narrow. There was no way for both of them to drive side by side as they had been. It was risky, but it would be worth it to see the smug face Aomine always wore fall off. He gripped his steering wheel hard and pressed down on the gas pedal with increasingly more force. Taking a glance in his rearview mirror, he saw that he was gaining some ground on the other. So he turned the wheel towards the left to edge his way in the other’s path. At this point, Kagami was driving almost horizontally. The tricky part was pulling out of the drift fast enough so that the other didn’t have a chance to pull ahead of him. 

He waited until the very very last part of the turn, then all at once he eased the pressure off of the gas pedal and whipped his steering wheel all the way to the right until it thunked. Kagami shifted gears and taking a quick glance at his side-view mirror he saw that Aomine had already strengthened out. Shit. He grit his teeth and once again gripped his steering wheel, slamming on the gas. As his car fishtailed, Kagami tried to use it to his advantage to block Aomine’s way. 

The other was expertly weaving back and forth on either side of him trying to push through. Geez, Aomine really had tight control. If it was him trying to gain back the lead, he didn’t think he could do it. But the feeling of being chased lit a fire in Kagami. He checked to see if he had any nitro left. About a quarter tank. Okay, he could make it work. The finish line was about 2 km away. If Kagami could manage to put more distance between them and use up the rest of his nitro then he could make it. He could win.

But just as he finished the thought, Aomine pulled up alongside him. Shit. He didn’t have time to think. He turned on his nitro boost and tried to pull ahead. There would be no winning by a long run. 

They battled for the lead, neither giving an inch. 1 km. 800 m. The finish line was within sight now. 600 m. Kagami had an idea. For the last time he slammed on the breaks, using the last of his reserves. He turned his steering wheel, completely blocking Aomine path off, forcing the other to slam on his brakes and turn the wheel to prevent a crash. Kagami smirked. He knew the other would have quick enough reflexes for him to pull this move. And just like that they crossed the finish line, with Kagami as the apparent winner. 

He gave himself a couple seconds to calm his breathing as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. He hadn’t gotten that worked up in a while. Kagami unbuckled and got out of his car just as Aomine did. When their eyes met, the boys grinned at each other. Well fought, their expressions seemed to say. 

But just when Kagami was about to head over to Aomine to celebrate his win, a figure broke through the cheering crowd. And he froze.

“Hey, Tiger. Great race.”

Maybe it was the horror in his eyes, or the way he just stood there gripping the ring around his neck in his fist. But Aomine understood that this was Tatsuya in a split second. A familiar weight settled on his shoulder. 

“Oi Bakagami, where’d you learn how to do that?” Although he didn’t acknowledge Tatsuya with words, Aomine shot him a dark glare. It gave Kagami some of his confidence back, but he still felt rattled. How did Tatsuya know where he was?

Kagami stuttered, but his voice increasingly gained in strength, “I-I always have tricks up my sleeves. Gotta keep you on your toes, Ahomine.” 

“Bullshit. You pulled that outta your ass, huh.” Aomine shot some looks at a few of the guys standing around as he used the arm on Kagami’s shoulder to turn them around. 

“Alright, alright. You got me there. I don’t know, it just felt like it would work.” Kagami remembered the surety he felt at that moment. He had always been the type to rely on his gut, but something about this felt different. 

Aomine hummed, “Ever heard of the zone?” Kagami shook his head. 

A lilting voice interrupted their conversation. “I see you’re still wearing that necklace, Tiger.” 

Aomine growled. “Look, man. Can’t you see that he wants nothing to do with you? Get a hint.”

“I don’t see how this is any of your business,” Tatsuya lifted an eyebrow. A couple guys from the crowd pulled in closer, sending nervous looks between the two.

Aomine leaned in. His lips barely scraped against Kagami’s ear. “Sorry, Kagami. You can punch me later.” When Aomine spoke, a shiver ran down his spine. 

“Actually, it is my business,” Aomine stated. “I’m his boyfriend.” What. Kagami shot an incredulous look at the other, but his eyes were on Tatsuya.

“Really now. That’s odd because I have unfinished business with him.” Tatsuya looked at the two disbelievingly. 

“You can say it to both of us then.” Aomine kept his stance. 

Tatsuya shrugged. “I know you still love me, Tiger.” 

Aomine scoffed and muttered under his breath, “Unbelievable.”

“I mean, you’re still wearing our couple necklace after all. After all these years, you’re just going to throw us away like that? I know you, Tiger. You can’t live without me. No one gets you like I do. They don’t know what you need,” Tatsuya pleaded. “Come back to me. Let’s go back to America together.” 

Kagami could tell that Aomine was getting heated by the clenching of his jaw. But with Aomine by his side, he felt stronger than he ever had in front of Tatsuya. This was his battle. With a quick exhale that made the other look at him curiously, Kagami squared his shoulders.

“No, Tatsuya. You’re wrong and I’m not going back.” Kagami felt his fingers shaking, so he clenched his fist. He could do this. After all these years, he could finally put an end to them. 

Tatsuya’s switch flipped. “You bastard! You cheating whore. After everything I’ve done for you, you’re just going to cut me off? Who was there for you when you lost your mom?! Who was there for you when you injured your legs and had to quit basketball?! Who do you think took care of your sorry ass all these years?!” Tatsuya screamed, spit flying from his mouth. His face was scrunched in hate, causing fear swirled up from Kagami’s stomach. He felt sick. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Aomine spat.

Tatsuya lunged forward. Shouts arose from the crowd, and the guys Aomine signaled to rush to hold Tatsuya back. Aomine moved to step in front of Kagami, but Tatsuya still managed to grab hold of the chain around Kagami’s neck. He pulled, and a sharp pain arose from his neck. Kagami reached a hand up to ease the strain, but the chain snapped.

The silver ring on it slipped onto the ground, rolling to Tatsuya’s feet. 

The guys pulled Tatsuya further backward as he spewed curses from his mouth. Aomine pulled back his arm, about to punch Tatsuya across the face but Kagami stepped forward and threw an arm across his chest. He shook his head. I got this, he said with his eyes. After a quick internal debate, Aomine backed down.

Kagami took a couple steps forward, but far enough to stay out of range in case Tatsuya rushed at him again. “I’m sorry it had to end like this.” He spared a glance backward towards Aomine’s tense figure, trying to hold in his anger. Upon making eye contact, the other clenched his fists and relaxed. He gave Kagami an encouraging look.

With another deep breath, Kagami squared his shoulders. “It’s over, Tatsuya. Don’t make this any worse than it has to be. I’ll tell Alex.” At that the other gave up his fight and slumped in his captors’ hold. 

“I’ll never forgive you.” He spat, hatred pooling his eyes. 

And for the first time, Kagami let it roll over his shoulders. “Leave me alone and we won’t have any problems.” 

“Fine.” Kagami nodded, relief making him feel lighter. “Get these fools off of me.” 

Kagami shot a look over at Aomine. Although hesitant, Aomine signaled for all of them to back off. “Thanks guys, I’ll make it up to you later. Go home.” The group still leftover made sure that Tatsuya was “escorted” out of the vicinity before they left. 

“You okay?” Aomine came to stand in front of him.

“Yeah. Somehow.” Kagami tried to blink away the tears that welled up.

Aomine pulled him by his neck and tucked Kagami’s face into his neck. His other arm came up to hold Kagami’s shoulders. Kagami breathed in the familiar, comforting scent of the other as a few tears leaked from his eyes. His arms came up to grip the other’s back.

“I’m proud of you,” Aomine whispered as he rested his cheek on top of Kagami’s head. “But if that fucker comes back, I’m calling the police.”

Kagami pinched his side. “Shut up,” his cries were muffled in the other’s neck. The other boy merely huffed and squeezed him in tighter. “He won’t come back.”

Aomine began brushing the hair at the base of Kagami's neck when he suddenly pushed the other back. “Oi, Kagami! You’re bleeding. Come on, let’s go home and I’ll patch you up.” 

Kagami gave one last squeeze before he let the other go. The other boy began moving frantically to his car. Kagami stared at him fondly before calling out. “Aho!” Aomine turned around. “Can you throw this away for me?” He held up the broken chain in his hand. 

Aomine looked down at it before nodding. “Of course.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so lots happened this chapter!! hoping the Tatsuya thing wasn't too anticlimatic, but I am planning to have Aokaga have a TALK about him so yeah. also hope the racing part goes over well lol, I really know nothing about racing...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry for the super late update, I've been busy studying for the MCAT and learning a lot of new things to help support the BLM movement!!!!

Daiki absently played with the chain that Kagami handed over to him while he thought about everything the other had told him. In these short 4 months, the other boy had become such an important existence to him. Daiki had never been the type to get attached quickly, but here he was. 

When they got to Kagami’s place, Aomine had patched up the other boy’s wounds in silence, feeling no need to speak. Looking upon the other’s downturned glance, he knew that the other boy had a lot to think about and that he would speak up when he was ready. 

_ “You hungry?”  _

_ Kagami scoffed. “Can you even cook, Aho?” _

_ “I can make fried rice at least!” Daiki huffed.  _

_ “Oh? I have to try this,” Kagami teased.  _

_ Daiki gave him a light shove while instructing him to sit right where he was so he wouldn’t be strained anymore. He cooked in silence to give the other more time to collect his thoughts. Their banter still seemed weak to him and he didn’t want to push the other more than he had to after a night like that. _

Daiki smiled at the memory of the other’s noise of surprise upon eating that first spoon. Daiki wouldn’t say he could cook, but he made a mean bacon fried rice. But thinking back on it, it really wasn’t often that he cooked, much less for another person. It was high time he admits that Kagami wasn’t like other people to him, but Daiki didn’t want to. That was just another person to disappoint. After everything, just having his parents and Satsuki was enough. He didn’t deserve more. 

_ “I still can’t believe you beat me at my own game, Bakagami. I can’t even say it was beginner’s luck.” Daiki rested his chin on his hand as he watched the other eat with less vigor than usual.  _

_ Kagami chewed slowly. “How did you start street racing?” _

_ Daiki hummed as he thought about his answer. There was a short version that he gave everyone. He just enjoyed the thrill of it. But there was also the long version that perhaps only Satsuki truly knew about--that he happened to stumble upon something that made him feel more alive than anything had since he first discovered basketball. Looking at the barely concealed defeat in Kagami’s eyes, he figured that he owed it to the other boy. _

_ “I used to play ball. I was good, too. Eventually, I ran out of opponents to play, whether it was at school or in the streets. People would hear my name and give up before they stepped onto the court. They saw me as a monster.” Daiki’s tone was flat, casual, but there was a rising fire in his eyes as he remembered those times. Kagami listened carefully as he finished up his meal. _

_ “It was infuriating and it made me despise basketball. I’m not gonna lie, I’m not proud of who I was then.” Though he felt ashamed, Daiki met Kagami’s gaze head-on. The other silently urged him to continue.  _

_ “Anyways, I stopped caring. I stopped going to practice and I got reckless playing with old friends who I knew could challenge me and ended up injuring my elbow. It was a good excuse to stop, and so I did.” Daiki’s voice croaked. Even if he hated playing back then, quitting was the last thread.  _

_ “I spiraled. I got into fights and caused all kinds of trouble for my parents and Satsuki. And then one night, while wandering the streets of Tokyo, I came across a group of racers.” Daiki laughed, “You know at first the thrill of doing something illegal made me feel alive again, but then it was the thrill of going that fast.” Kagami nodded in agreement.  _

_ “Is that why you named your car Tsubasa*?” Kagami asked. _

_ “Yeah.” _

Daiki rolled over in his bed. God, that was embarrassing. Daiki was never one to talk about feelings, but it was different with Kagami. He felt...safe. He felt like Kagami should know these things and that the other would be able to understand where he was coming from. Daiki didn’t want to admit it, but with just the both of them sitting across from each other the moment felt almost intimate. The words just spilled out.

_ Kagami lightly kicked his foot under the table as he set aside the plate and copied Daiki’s position, head resting on his arms.  _

_ “After moving to America when I was young, it was really hard for me to fit in.” Kagami spoke softly. Daiki almost held his breath to encourage the other to continue. “It wasn’t until I met Tatsuya that I could make a space for myself. He introduced me to basketball and I got hooked. I felt like I could finally prove my worth, you know?” Daiki hummed in agreement. _

_ “I got impatient, reckless. I kept trying to play people way above my league and I pushed myself too far. I wanted to go to the NBA, you know? But I injured my legs. It was over after that. I only had Tatsuya to lean on, but then he kept saying that he wanted a real match where the stakes were our relationship. I never understood and after I injured myself I had an excuse to run away you know? After that he went crazy.” _

_ Daiki grit his teeth. Fuck Tatsuya. He didn’t deserve Kagami.  _

_ “Looking back, he probably wanted to measure our skills and after I had avoided it for so long we could never have that match because I injured myself. But I couldn’t be with him after that so I began to avoid him too. I had to drop out of my college team.” Daiki twisted their legs together to offer Kagami comfort.  _

_ “One of my teammates dragged me out to see a NASCAR race when I fell into a slump. I’ve been hooked ever since. Racing became a nice escape. Driving helped me stop thinking, feeling. I was so relieved. It’s why I named my car Cloud 9, you know.”  _

_ “I know.” Kagami met his eyes, pleasantly surprised, and smiled. Ah, they thought, here’s someone who really gets me. _

After the heavy talk, the two had moved to the couch where they revisited happier, lighter childhood memories until Kagami was blinking back his tears from the number of yawns he released and Kagami had talked himself hoarse. Daiki had driven home despite the other’s offer for him to stay over. He needed time for himself to think and he knew Kagami understood. 

After all this thinking though, Daiki had to admit that he was a little scared. Kagami had become so so important to him and he was scared to lose him. His world had become so much brighter after having met the other boy. But he was scared because he could see that his feelings were taking a romantic turn. 

When Kagami had looked at him across the table, tired and exhausted, he wanted to wrap him up in his arms. He wanted to make sure that no one or anything could hurt Kagami again. It was scary how strongly he felt and Daiki didn’t know what to do about it. He thought about getting advice from Satsuki, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. 

Daiki groaned. Whatever, too much thinking. He’ll just go with the flow. Round 4 of the race was today and he had to be focused. 

Daiki remembered the slightly embarrassed smile that Kagami had on when he walked Daiki out the other night. Ugh, why did he have to be so cute? 

Focus!!! Daiki rolled over so that his face was shoved into his pillow and his fists pounded by his head. Focus! 

“Dai-chan? Are you okay?” Fuck.

“Yeah!” He yelled, voice muffled by the pillows. Maybe if he lay here long enough he would suffocate and he wouldn’t have to deal with this mess.

An amused giggle sounded from the doorway. “That’s a little dramatic even for you.” Satsuki teased. Daiki responded by flipping her off.

His bed dipped near his feet. Before he knew it, a light touch traced the line of his foot from his heel to his toes, and Daiki jerked. 

“Stop!” His anger deflated by a squeak. Daiki was unbelievably ticklish and Satsuki always liked to use it to her advantage when he was being difficult. 

“Come on, what’s wrong? You know you can talk to me.” Her voice softened. 

It was silent as Daiki debated telling her or not. He settled for something a little closer to home without playing all his cards. “Do you think...that it’s okay...for me to you know, like someone?”

“Oh, Dai-chan. Of course, it is!” Her fingers curled around his ankles lovingly. 

The peace of morning stretched on as he mulled over her answer. Satsuki knew that after his downward spiral in high school he thought it was he had to keep others at a distance. It prevented him from lashing out and hurting those around him. It truly had been a long time since anyone other than Satsuki was shown his innocent childishness and playful nature. It had been a long time before he let himself have the luxury of befriending someone, of allowing himself to be understood. 

Satsuki lay her head on the back of his shoulders, humming, as she let him contemplate. She knew what this was about of course but she wanted to allow him that anonymity. It was clear that he was still trying to come to terms with it and she was letting him know that it was okay. That she would support him as she had always done. 

Without warning, Daiki rolled over and sat up causing her head to bounce against the mattress. She pouted, but then a large head rested on her head and ruffled her hair. 

“Okay,” he said. And she beamed. 

-

The awkward tension was prevalent to everyone in the vicinity. No one knew how or when the two rookies became such good friends but it wasn’t surprising. No, what was surprising was the weird dance they were doing around each other. They couldn’t stand the obvious gazes that told them the two boys didn’t want to be too far apart from each other, yet the jumpy behavior they had when someone even mentioned the other boy was suspicious. But no one wanted to breach the subject. Except for Tetsu of course.

“Kagami-kun. Aomine-kun.”

Both boys shouted, shoulders raised to their ears. “Fuck! Kuroko/Tetsu! Don’t do that!” 

“Tetsu?” Kagami asked, eyebrows raised. Daiki tried to sputter through some excuse as to why he was addressing the shorter boy so intimately, but his mind was drawing a huge blank. He hadn’t told Kagami about Teiko yet. 

Tetsu decided to spare him, “We were teammates in middle school.”

“You mean this jerk had friends other than Momoi?” Kagami asked, incredulously. It earned him a solid punch to the arm.

The corners of Tetsu’s lips quirked up into an easy smile, “Once upon a time.”

Daiki had nothing to say to that. The shorter boy wasn’t wrong after all. “Look,” he deflated, eyes apologetic.

Except, ever the saint, Tetsu waved him off. “All is forgiven. Many things have changed.” He shared a knowing look with Daiki, indicating towards Kagami. And Daiki flushed. Goddammit, how did he know? 

Kagami, ever the oblivious idiot, only caught the look towards him and he cried defensively, “What? What did I do? What is happening here?”

Tetsu raised a closed fist in front of Daiki, and his mouth opened slightly in shock. After all this time and everything he did, Tetsu would still forgive him? 

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, returning the fist bump. 

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Kagami yelled. 

The clamor rose as Kagami became increasingly annoyed at being ignored as the two blue-heads talked out their differences in purposely vague phrases. It was joined with the joyful ring of Satsuki’s laughter.

A couple of feet away, a dark glare was being focused on the group. The boy snarled in their direction. 

Daiki whipped his head when he felt the threat, landing on a boy with silver hair. His lips curled up as he glared back. Haizaki. Seems like there was no getting rid of the other boy. He knew the other had a personal vendetta out for all of the Generation of Miracles, but he honestly thought that Haizaki had given up at this point. 

“Problem?” Daiki barked. He could feel Kagami’s curious eyes as a dangerous aura bloomed from him. Daiki was rarely this aggressive off the court. Even Kuroko’s eyebrows were downturned with defiance.

The silver-haired boy sneered, “Watch out, I’m going hunting today. Heard you can get a lot for tiger parts.” Daiki felt Kagami’s flinch and stepped in front of the other boy.

He bared his teeth, “Don’t ask for more than you can handle.” 

The standoff was broken when Riko came over, a vein bulging out of her neck as she shot an innocent smile at the silver-haired boy.

“Haizaki Shougo. You’re a lot of talk for your meager results. Maybe you should consider if you’re even a part of this playing field,” She gritted out between her teeth.

Daiki’s protectiveness eased as he stared at the short manager with shock. Who knew she was feisty? 

“Who are you? I know they have higher standards for grid girls nowadays,” Haizaki’s eyes glanced down at her chest.

As the fire rose over her small stature, the rest of Kagami’s crew hurried to drag her away from the tense scene. Daiki wouldn’t put it past her to kill Haizaki on the spot. He shuddered. She was a demon encased in a very, very tiny body and the subsequent explosion would be fatal. 

“See you on the track?” Kagami offered before he joined the rest of his team to calm his manager.

Daiki’s answering grin could only be described as feral.

-

Hell if Kagami thought that Daiki would let him keep up his winning streak. Kagami was a challenge, true, but Daiki was better. And he set out today to reaffirm that. 

He was at least 1 kilometer in front of any of his competitors. Maybe that wasn’t a big lead in car racing, but the grand prix had a rule in which the more you win the more weights they place in your care to help out the competition and make the races more exciting. Daiki snorted. They didn’t mean shit to him. He was a man on a mission.

He continued to push in the last few laps to blow out the competition and the crowd was eating him up. He usually didn’t care for such things but ever since Kagami came into the picture he started to be more aware of his surroundings again. There was no way the other boy would be allowed to slip by him anymore. 

There were two runner ups behind him. One he knew to be Kagami, but who was the other one. Before today, no one had been even close to threatening the rookies. The sharp reflection of the silver car in his rearview mirror left a bad taste in his mouth though. 

Daiki couldn’t afford to be too unfocused though. Although he could handle the extra weights, if he wasn’t paying attention it could cost him the race. His drifts were much wider and harder to control at the speed he was pushing. So he took a deep breath and recentered himself. 

“Dai-chan!” Satsuki’s distressed cry ran down his headset.

He didn’t understand why until he crossed the finish line. It was too quiet. 

Up on the Jumbotron, Kagami’s car lay bashed in, smoke billowing up to form dark, thunderous crowds. 

“Kagami!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *tsubasa comes from the Japanese word meaning wings. 
> 
> sorry to kagami for always hurting him ;; it will get better for baby boy I promise!!!  
> also side note: I actually think haizaki was done wrong in canon and understand why he seeks vengeance.


	7. thanks, _____ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> knock knock, im back!! hope u guys have been doing well!!

God. His head was pounding.  Everything hurt, his mouth was dry, and there was crust around his eyes. Kagami felt all around uncomfortable, not to mention unbearably heavy and sluggish. He struggled to open his eyes, wrinkling his nose at the strong smell of disinfectant. 

Where was he? What happened?

He felt a heavy weight on one of his hands, and Kagami squeezed his fingers to try and get a grasp of what it was. A groan sounded to his right making him try in earnest to turn his head. 

“Kagami? You up? Don’t try to move too much, you’re still hurt.” 

“Aomine? What happened?”

“That bitch Haizaki clipped the rear of your car and sent you skidding off the tracks. You hit the rails and your car was totaled. It’s lucky that you’re only coming out of it with a concussion and some stitches on your face.”

“Wait, stitches?”

Aomine snorted. “Yeah, you got a badass cut over your eyebrow. Lucky it missed your eye.” 

“Oh. So my eyebrows are even more freaky than before.” Kagami knew it was ridiculous to be this upset when his injuries were so minor but he couldn’t help it. Tatsuya had always commented on his eyebrows and he had become extremely self-conscious of them. 

“I’m not gonna lie. That scar is gonna be freaky hot. You don’t have anything to be worried about.” Aomine replied nonchalantly.

Kagami felt his face explode. His mouth gaped, trying to come up with some kind of rebuttal. Aomine popped his head into his line of vision with a self-satisfied grin. “Surprise, I think you’re hot and I’d totally date your eyebrows, and you, you know if you’re down.”

Kagami is sure that his face became impossibly redder. As he sputtered, Aomine gave his face a light tap. “Alright you sexy goldfish, I’m gonna go run and get you some refreshments. Don’t miss me too much.” 

Kagami’s mind was racing. This was Aomine they were talking about after all. Half the stuff that came out of his mouth was pure bullshit, but Kagami liked to think that he could tell when the other was being serious. And the fact that he hoped the other wouldn’t joke about something like this. Plus, when Aomine tapped his face, it lingered a little and he thought he felt the other’s hands shaking. But, this could all be in his head. 

Kagami groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. Why was he such an overthinker? It’d be quicker to just ask the other. But, he didn’t know how he felt. Sure, he really valued their friendship. Aomine made him feel at home in Japan, and that was a really big deal actually. But did he like him? 

Recently, he had been noticing a weird tension between them though. The two were drawn to each other whenever they were in the same vicinity. It was both thrilling and soothing all at once. Being around Aomine was like being on a high and being at home all at once. It was weird, but Kagami loved every second of it. It was nothing like how he felt with Tatsuya, and maybe that’s why he didn’t notice before. 

He was in love with Aomine Daiki. 

After he came to his realization, the door opened. Kagami tried to prop himself up on his elbows to get a good look at the other. 

“Oh? So eager to see me Taiga?” The way the boy drawled sent a shiver down Kagami’s spine. He felt frozen. His body was still stiff from lying in bed for so long and his eyes began to search frantically for the call button. 

“Ah ah ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“What are you doing here?” Kagami croaked. 

“What do you mean? I was just worried about you. No need to be so hostile.”

Kagami was begging with every ounce of luck that he had that Aomine would come back soon. He was in no condition to protect himself and he had no idea what the other would do. As Tatsuya began to step towards the bed, Kagami’s heart rate skyrocketed. 

“You shouldn’t be here, Tatsuya. You’re not a part of my life anymore.” 

“What are you gonna do about it?” Tatsuya continued to step closer to him and Kagami slowly reached his hand towards the call button. 

“I’m gonna beat your ass is what I’m gonna do,” Aomine announced his presence by slamming the door open. His angry visage filled Kagami with relief. 

“You don’t go anywhere without your guard dog anymore huh, Taiga.” Tatsuya spat.

“You don’t get to call him that anymore,” Aomine growled, moving to block the other’s way. “Get out before I call security on you.” 

“You can’t do that to me. I’m listed as his next of kin.” 

“Actually,” Kagami interrupted, “It’s Alex. And I will be calling her this time around. I don’t want to see your face ever again. I will get a restraining order if I need to.” 

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” Tatsuya hollered. “I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING. I TOOK YOU IN. YOU OWE ME.” 

“No, he doesn’t.” Aomine snarled. 

“Gentlemen, is there a problem here?” A nurse asked, having heard the commotion. 

“Please get him out of here. He isn’t welcome,” Aomine replied politely.

After Aomine made sure that that matter was taken care of, he let out a huff with his hands on his hips. 

“Dai. Come here,” Daiki whipped his head around when he heard the nickname. Kagami beckoned him over with a wave of his hand, and when the other boy was within reaching distance, he closed his fingers around the other’s wrist and yanked him down to lay with Kagami in the tiny hospital bed. 

“Thanks.” 

\--

Kagami doesn’t know how it was possible, but they started hanging out more than before. Even practice days were being held together now. When he says that they were inseparable, he meant it. Half of it may be Daiki just being overprotective, but he’d like to think that the other half was because Daiki enjoyed his company too. 

Also, he was going to pointedly ignore how he had gotten comfortable calling Daiki by “Daiki” in his head. It’s whatever. 

They didn’t always hang out alone though. Surprisingly, Kuroko had actually become more involved in their lives to the joy of Momoi and Daiki. Kagami was happy that they had a chance to renew their friendship as well. Every day he was more and more grateful that he took the leap to move back to Japan. He was glad he was able to meet all these amazing people who cared for him and loved him like he never knew love before. 

A couple of days before the 5th round, Daiki had broken into his apartment at butt-o’clock and dragged Kagami to Maji Burger. Kagami complained about eating something as heavy as Maji right after waking up, but it was already noon by the time they arrived. Momoi and Kuroko were already there waiting for them. It wasn’t unusual for them to meet up spontaneously, but usually Kagami got some kind of heads up before his place was crashed for the day. 

Actually, upon closer look, his whole team was there. Did he forget about practice today?

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”

“What?” Kagami was shocked into silence. His heart warmed. 

Aomine gave him a light nudge and a knowing grin. 

“Thank you.” He beamed at his teammates and friends.

Of course, after eating their fill at Maji, they hit the courts. Lo and behold, Kagami discovered that the boys at Seirin had all played ball together in high school. No wonder they were such a well-knit team. And Kagami fit right in. It made him think about what his life would be like if he had returned to Japan earlier. 

But he saw the little smile on Kuroko’s face and he shook his head. No point thinking about the what-ifs. He was happy where he was now. They all were. All in all, it was a very good birthday, one that he would remember for years to come. 

The group had retired to his apartment after hitting the courts. Of course, he offered to cook to show his gratefulness but he was quickly kicked out of his own kitchen. Some nonsense about the birthday boy not having to cater to his guests. Aomine was very adamant and threatened to sit on him if he didn’t stay put. Kagami very quickly shut his mouth to avoid the embarrassment of how he’d react if that happened in front of so many people. 

He tried his best to let his friends do the courtesy of cooking for him but he couldn’t help hovering. His kitchen was his baby and Momoi and Riko were destroying her. They didn’t even cut the vegetables before throwing it into the pot AND there was absolutely no reason to include vitamin supplements. Recalling that disaster made him sick to his stomach. Daiki, on the other hand, had some common sense at least but it was mostly the boys of Seirin who kept the ship from sinking. 

All in all, the beef stew didn’t turn out all that bad. And they did think to buy the cake instead of making it. Despite how stressed he got, Kagami would do it all over again. It was a welcomed kind of chaos. 

As the night got darker, more and more people trickled out of his home until it was just him and Daiki left. As usual, but today the other boy was helping him clean up. Maybe his standards were really low, but the gesture was really sweet and Kagami found himself head over heels again. 

“Hey, Kagami.”

“Yeah?”

“Here.” Daiki handed over a slightly crushed box in a closed fist. “Happy birthday, again.”

“You didn’t have to.” Kagami insisted, like the well-mannered boy he was.

“Shut up and just open it. It wasn’t much, but I thought you’d like it,” Daiki rubbed the back of his neck. “If you don’t though, just give it back and we’ll pretend it never happened.”

As the other boy continued to ramble, Kagami had stilled staring at the box. His heart felt like bursting. Inside was a chain-link bracelet. He knew that chain. It was the same one that he used to wear around his neck. It had the same wear and tear, Kagami just knew it. 

“I know you told me to throw it away, and this was very presumptuous of me I know, okay.” 

Kagami finally brought his eyes up to the other’s figure. A glint of light reflected off the arm Daiki had behind his head and Kagami shot his arm out to grab it. 

Daiki was wearing a matching bracelet. When Kagami met his eyes, the other’s face exploded in a blush. Daiki licked his lips, “I thought I could give new meaning to something that was important to you.” 

When Kagami’s silence continued, he could see the other get even more nervous. “Well, are you gonna say anything? It’s kinda rude to leave me hanging like this.”

Kagami shook his head. He couldn’t believe it. Aomine Daiki was truly one of a kind. With a smile breaking out, he said, “You’re kinda rude.” Kagami ignored the other’s protests and brought their foreheads together. 

“Thanks. I love it.”

\--

In the spirit of Kagami’s birthday, he managed to win the 5th round of the race after extensive tests to make sure that he was fully recovered from his accident. 

As if in retaliation, Daiki managed to sweep up the 6th round easily. Now there were only 2 rounds of the race left and the two boys were still pretty much even for the top spot. Having about 3 wins each. The twin bulls were keeping everyone on their toes. 

On the day of the race, Momoi had casually let it slip that Daiki’s birthday was at the end of the week. Kagami internally panicked. Why did he only find out now? Actually, how did Daiki even find out his birthday in the first place? He didn’t remember telling anyone, much less the other boy. But that didn’t matter right now. What was he supposed to do for the other’s birthday? After receiving so much on his own, it was only fair that he made Daiki’s day just as special. 

They had been hanging out for the last two weeks and Kagami hadn’t gotten a single hint on what would be a good gift for the other. NOTHING. He felt like pulling his hair out. 

And then! Then a couple of days before Daiki’s birthday, they were out window shopping because Daiki’s basketball shoes had fallen apart. He had mentioned something about having had a collection when he still played, but after quitting he had gotten rid of all his shoes. Daiki was lamenting over how much he regretted it because it was so hard to find shoes in his size when Kagami was struck with lightning. 

He feigned a case of food poisoning, telling the other boy to go home for the day. He would not have any guests over as he was blowing up the toilet, not even Daiki. 

“You better be good by this weekend!” Daiki shouted as he crossed the gate in the train station. Kagami nodded and waved the other off. When he saw that Daiki round the corner, Kagami straightened and sprinted back home.

Obviously, he had to get a paired gift, and now he had the perfect idea. Good thing he still had a plug for shoes in America. It would be a lot easier to get the right size for both of them and he could have it express shipped to make it in time. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Aomine’s face. 

\--

Kagami was a little nervous. Oddly enough, after all this time he finally got to meet the rest of the Generation of Miracles. And of course, Daiki being the way he is didn’t prepare him at all for what he was supposed to expect. The other insisted that they weren’t a big deal or even his friends really, but Kagami knew that he was downplaying it. There was no way that they weren’t friends if they were hanging out with him on his birthday, just no way. 

Plus, he didn’t know if Daiki had told the group about him yet. They were basically dating, they just haven’t clearly acknowledged it or done anything intimate, yet. But anyways, that’s a story for another day. So Kagami just didn’t know how to act and also the boxes of shoes were in his duffel bag and he really couldn’t wait to see how the other boy would react. He didn’t know if he should wait until they were alone or what, but he didn’t want to appear empty-handed in front of all his friends. God, for once why wouldn’t his brain just stop thinking.

He rounded the corner and heard a familiar rhythm of someone dribbling. Although that did help to put him more at ease, he was just that much closer to meeting strangers and now he was back right where he was earlier. God, this sucks. It was a good thing that he loved Daiki too much to bail out. 

Oh my gods, he loved him. 

This truly was not the time to have a life-altering revelation, Kagami Taiga. Get it the fuck together. 

“Taiga!” An excited cheer rang out. 

Oh my gods, he called him Taiga. That wasn’t fair. They haven’t even gotten there in private yet. Which kinda didn’t make sense now that he thought about it. Maybe he just didn’t notice? Anyways, it didn’t matter. Daiki was making him freak out and he hated him for it. Fuck him, who cares if it’s his birthday?

While he was going through another downward spiral, Daiki hooked an arm around his neck and presented him to his group of friends. “Taiga, this is Skittle Squad. Skittle Squad, Taiga.” 

The rainbow-haired boys were quick to yell curses and threats at the ecstatic birthday boy, promising bodily harm if he didn’t quit that cocky smile right this minute. The squabble was broken with a guffawing laugh from Taiga. God, what was he even worried about.

Taiga wiped his eyes, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just so glad that I’m not the only one who has to deal with Daiki’s obnoxious bullshit.”

Daiki mock gasped and threw his arm against his forehead to faint dramatically against Taiga’s sturdy body. “Babe, how could you say that about me? You love my heart and soul so dearly.”

Taiga snorted and shoved the other off. “Nice to meet you all, I’m Kagami Taiga.”

Before he could even get acquainted with everyone there, an unearthly screech resounded from behind him. “TAIGAAAAA, YOU DIDN’T!” As he turned around towards the source, he was glomped with a blubbering 6’4” and 191 lbs weight. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He tried to turn to face the other, but Daiki’s tight grip prevented him from detaching the two. 

The reply was a series of incoherent noises, but he was able to make out “Air Jordan 1 Retro ‘Top 3’” and “matching.” So somehow, the other boy had managed to get into his bag and see his present prematurely. Taiga sighed in exasperation and returned what he now knew to be a hug. 

“THANKS. I LOVE YOU.”

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, i'm sooooo sorry for the late update. I had been studying for my MCAT exam and I had to put everything on hold, but I'm back now and I hope to finish this story soon. Thank you for being soooo patient with me. also in case anyone wanted to see what kagami got for aomine, here's the link! https://www.amazon.com/Air-Jordan-Retro-High-Top/dp/B01N5SF2FD


	8. Pinky Promise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh we're nearing the end of the story, thanks for sticking me out!!! I've never written anything this long and I really didn't expect it to be this long either, so really thank you so much for reading and leaving comments.

Daiki tried to be nonchalant, but he just couldn’t. Contrary to popular opinion, Daiki prided himself on being observant. He was just willfully ignorant when things didn’t fit his agenda. And this situation definitely did not fit his agenda.

Kagami had been distant and he knows that it’s been since he accidentally slipped out the L-word on his birthday. He just knows it. It’s already been about 2 months since the incident and the fact that he’s seen the other so little over that time is just proof of it. He hadn’t meant to say it then, but he did mean it and he wasn’t going to take it back. Daiki wasn’t expecting Kagami to reciprocate, he just wanted it to be known.

“Give him space, Dai-chan!” Satsuki reminded for the nth time as she swatted him away. But Daiki wouldn’t have it. He was lonely goddammit. He missed Taiga.

“How much longer?” he whined. 

Taking pity on him, Satsuki began to stroke his hair. “Until he says so.”

Daiki’s body relaxed as he accepted her response. She was always right.

And then his phone pinged and he pounced. He may have accidentally elbowed her in the gut, but she would forgive him because she knows how stressed he’s been. At least he hopes so. It’s definitely better than the time he put a frog on her head when they were little. She never let go of that one.

_ Tai <3: _

_> >>_ _hey so uh i just remembered that we booked a hotel room together. I checked us in. See you soon I guess._

Oh my god. He had forgotten about that. What was he going to do? It’s been so long and he didn’t know if he was supposed to address the elephant in the room or not. Well, knowing himself he would. But he tried to be a little more tactful with Taiga because he actually cared what the other thought.

Not wanting to panic, he dived into Satsuki’s lap again and threw her the phone.

\--

Daiki couldn’t focus to save his life. He’s never had performance issues, but that was with basketball, and you know, sex. Racing was just a side job. He didn’t actually care about it. So it couldn’t be helped that he was off his game. 

All he could think about was sharing a room with Taiga. Who thought this was a good idea? He would like to have words with them. Plus, they were in a foreign country together and that just added an element of...spice. 

It wasn’t a surprise that with his head all over the place, Daiki lost the race, putting Kagami with one race ahead of him. Nothing he couldn’t make up in the final round if he really wanted to. Satsuki gave him an earful about it, not that he was listening. 

He was doing a good job of avoiding Taiga. This really wasn’t out of spite so much as nervousness. What if there was no recovering from the L-word incident? 

Ugh, he needed a drink. 

Daiki was stumbling back to the hotel room feeling light and happy as a fool. He totally forgot why he was so anxious before. When he got to his room, he patted himself down to try and find the key. Huh, did he even get one in the first place?

Leaning his head on the door to stop the spinning, he rapped his knuckles against the wood. “Taaaaiigaaaaa. I don’t have my key!!” 

After a few more rounds of knocking, the door beeped and swung open making him fall forward. “Oof.”

Mmm. He could sleep right here. It was nice and warm. It smelled nice too. 

“Oi, Aomine. Are you drunk?” 

“Noooo, you’re not allowed to call me that, Tai. It sounds like we’re not friends, but that’s not true. We’re best friends,” he drawled, pushing his head deeper into the warmth. When the warmth tried to step back, he wrapped his arms around the figure and whined some more.

“Alright, Daiki. Come on.” He felt himself getting dragged, but he went along with it because he was comfortable. After landing on a soft bed with a grunt, he proceeded to snuggle closer with the warm figure.

It was silent for a while and he was flirting with the edges of sleep when the figure began wriggling. He frowned, “Stop moving.” Although it did momentarily, the wriggling came back with increased vigor. Daiki responded by squeezing tighter. “No, stay.”

“You sound like a kid.” The figure snorted. Daiki just squeezed tighter and mumbled, “Mine.”

“Alright, you got me.” When the figure settled, Daiki finally drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. 

\--

He came to with a dry mouth, gunk in his eyes, and the last traces of a dream involving Kagami and glowing smiles. All in all, not a bad way to wake up. He moved to stretch and became aware of being wrapped around a really warm, hard pillow. 

“You up, drunkhead?” 

“Taiga?” 

“Yeah, you better be grateful I was still up or else you’d be asleep outside the door.”

“Sorry, thanks.”

The awkward silence was getting under Daiki’s skin. He wished that he was still drunk so he wouldn’t have to be aware of how weird this was. He moved to get up, check the time, rinse out his mouth, something, anything to escape this feeling when Taiga broke the silence.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh?” The surprise fell out of his mouth.

“I mean, it’s just not like you to get drunk…” the other boy trailed off.

“Well it’s not like you to avoid me and not say what’s wrong,” Daiki rebutted. He felt the other boy stiffen under his embrace. With a sigh, he softened his voice and began stroking the other’s side.

“Look. I know what you’re thinking. I’m not asking you to return my feelings. We can pretend it never happened if you feel more comfortable. I just want to be by your side.”

It was silent again as Daiki gave the other time to contemplate his words. The silence though strained, was no longer awkward. 

“It’s not...I just…” Taiga blew out a breath in frustration. Daiki merely hummed in support. With another sigh, the other boy started once again. “I’m not...uncomfortable. It’s just, I like what we have.” He paused, moving his hand to begin stroking Daiki’s head, which earned a small sigh of appreciation. Taiga’s voice lowered in hesitation, “I don’t want it to ever end. I don’t want to repeat history. I...I like you too much. It would break me.”

Like hell, Daiki would let this insanity go on any longer. In a quick movement, he was kneeling over Taiga on his hands and knees. Making sure that the other was looking him right in the eye, he reassured “We don’t have to rush anything if you’re not ready. I want to be here. With you. In any way that you’ll let me. Got it?” 

Taiga’s eyes glistened with tears, but they never dropped. In a broken voice, he replied “Okay. Thank you.” And threw his arms around Daiki’s broad shoulders, burying his face in Daiki’s neck. 

Daiki collapsed on top of the other boy and rolled them so that Taiga was on top. He returned the hug with equal ferocity. Once again, fuck Tatsuya and everything he put Taiga through. Even if the other boy was long over him, there was still a lot of healing to be done, not that Daiki minded. 

With a kiss to the other boy’s head, he said just for the both of them, “You’ll be okay, I promise.” Taiga squeezed harder. 

The two lay comfortably in silence for who knows how long until they both heard a grumble. Daiki laughed, “Was that your stomach or mine?”

Taiga answered with another rumble from his stomach. 

“Nice timing. I was getting hungry, too. Did you want to go out to get food or we could order in tonight?” Daiki asked, not moving. He was down for either, but he really hoped that Taiga chose to stay in so that he could stay cuddled up with him some more.

The other boy buried further into Daiki’s embrace and his heart skipped a beat. How could he be so cute!

Daiki wrapped him up in his arms. “Nevermind, we’re staying right here. You have to comfort me because I lost the race. Sorry I don’t make the rules.” It earned him pinch to his side, which made him involuntarily kick the other in the shins, and before they knew it, they were wrestling with each other. 

They were still grappling with each other and not paying attention when Daiki felt himself falling. His eyes widened and he shot out his arm to grab onto Taiga’s arms. Shocked by the sudden movement, Taiga wasn’t able to react fast enough. They hit the floor in a tumble of limbs. The two lay there for a few minutes to recollect themselves. 

“Pizza?” He suggested, turning to glance at the other. 

“5 boxes of meat lovers?”

Daiki pouted his lips and batted his lashes. “Can you order, Tai? Pretty please?” He was met with a scoff of disbelief. “Come on,” he said, “I’m too hurt to get up. You used my poor body as a landing mat.” He batted his lashes a couple extra times for insurance.

Taiga rolled his eyes, but Daiki saw the edges of his lips turning up and he grinned in victory. He raised his fist as the other got up, earning him a kick to his side that he took in stride. God, he was so in love. 

The two boys were laying around the room in various stages of hunger as they waited for their order to come. “Taiiiii, is it here yet?”

“If it was, I’d be eating it all before you could even touch a slice.” 

“That’s mean! Is that how you treat all your friends? No wonder you don’t have any.”

“And yet here you are.”

“I obviously lack sound judgement. Who would wanna spend their time being knocked around by a gorilla?”

“You must be masochistic then.”

“Anything for you, baby boo.” Daiki winked. It was only because he had an eye closed that he didn’t see the pillow flying towards his face, he swears. 

With a roar, Daiki flung all the pillows at Kagami. While the other boy was recovering, he grabbed the edges of the blanket and stood up on the bed. He starfished on top of the other and quickly hugged him to trap him in a blanket burrito.

“Ha!” he exclaimed. Just then their was a knock on their door and both boys shot their heads at the sound. They look back at each other and scrambled to get to the food first. Daiki was laughing at his advantage when he felt a hand hook around his ankle and he went down. “Cheater!” He cried.

When Taiga came back with the food, Daiki was sitting in a corner, refusing to acknowledge the other. Taiga tried every trick in the book to get the other boy to come eat. “Come on,” he pleaded, “I’m sorry, okay?” Poking and prodding at Daiki was useless as he merely swatted the other’s hand away.

“Look, I’ll give you the last slice,” Daiki perked his ears at that, “Now will you come eat? I don’t like it when you ignore me.”

Aw heck. He couldn’t resist that. 

“Only if you pinky swear never to ignore me again.” 

“Yes. Of course. Pinky swear, cross my heart and hope to die. Now come on, I saved you the biggest piece.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't help being soft and floofy. I'm a pisces, sue me.


	9. Last Round

Taiga couldn’t stand himself. He knew that Daiki said that he was willing to wait but he just felt like he was being extremely unfair. Despite his feelings for the other, he felt like he couldn’t give Daiki his all right now and that he deserved someone who was sure of him. Not that Taiga wasn’t sure of Daiki, more like that he wasn’t sure of himself. He didn’t know if he could be a good partner for Daiki. When did he become such a scaredy-cat?

Right. Tatsuya. He wanted to scream. Everything he did now was still tainted by what had happened with Tatsuya. He wanted to be better. He wanted to be able to reach for his own happiness, but he was still held back by the chains of their broken past. As his feelings mounted, Taiga’s skin began to itch. His lungs constricted and he felt pressure building up in his head. His eyes darted around the blurry room. He needed- he needed to get out. 

As his breath quickened and his vision blurred, Taiga stumbled off his bed and into the living room. He paid no mind to the mess he left behind running into corners and edges, until his bare feet stepped on something and slipped, sending his body crashing backward. His left hand crinkled around a smooth cover of a magazine. It was Daiki’s stupid porn book he had brought over last time, saying something about having no privacy at home. He stared blankly at the cover, not really registering that that was what he had slipped on. Daiki would be mad. Daiki. Daiki. 

He continued to stare down at the magazine cover. Then something glinted into his vision. It was the bracelet the other boy had given him. Not Tatsuya, but Daiki. As he felt his heart thawing, Taiga’s head cleared. He brought his arm in front of his face. The cold clink of the metal brought him back. He took in a deep breath. I’m okay. I’m here. I’m okay. He repeated this over and over with each breath until he felt his heart return to normal.

He sat there for what must have been hours. By the time he was aware of his surroundings, it was dark. He was getting ready to convince himself to eat a little something and clean up when the sound of the door unlocking reached his ears.

“Taiga?”

Daiki.

“Taiga? Where are you? Why is it so dark?” He still couldn’t muster the energy to open his mouth, but his heart was crying out. I’m here! I’m here. Please find me. He began to curl up as his mind threatened to slip back under the fog. Please find me.

A soft shush reached his ears. “Hey. Are you okay? What do you need?”

“C-can you just sit with me?” He felt the comforting presence of Daiki settle in next to his frame. He grounded himself to that warmth and the mindless rambles coming from the other. 

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be. Come on, have you eaten yet? I can put something together real quick.” Taiga allowed himself to be pulled onto the couch and tucked into the fuzzy blanket he kept thrown across it. 

He watched Daiki in the warm kitchen light as he worked to put together what looked like omurice. Hmm, the other boy should get some praise for that because it wasn’t as easy to make as you would think. The scene warmed his heart, it felt like he was being drawn out of the darkness despite that being the only light turned on in the apartment. 

“Here.” Daiki presented the plate to him. “I can help you clean up the place while you eat unless you want me to stay with you.” Taiga slipped an arm out of the cocoon, goosebumps rising at the rapid temperature change, and tugged at the bottom of the other’s shirt. 

“Alright, come here you big baby. You get to have the very special Aomine Daiki service for free. You can sit in my lap as I spoon feed you.” Taiga’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment but he meekly crawled into the others embrace and snuggled into the sturdy chest. 

After the meal filled with Daiki’s obnoxious boasts of how great of a cook he was and that Taiga should feel very lucky (he did), Taiga went back to fiddling with the bracelet. This was a very weird experience. He didn’t think he’s ever been this vulnerable in front of another person. In fact, he didn’t think that he was capable of it. Today was just a very emotionally charged day, for no fucking reason. 

Just as he was getting into his head again, he felt a hand grab his wrist. The darker hand gently pulled his right hand away from where it was scratching up his wrist. Then Daiki’s right hand interlocked their fingers. The two bracelets seemed to glow in the dim lighting. He felt the other tuck him in more comfortably into his body. “I got you.”

And it really felt like it did. When the last traces of tension left his body, he slipped back into the darkness. But this time, it felt safe and inviting. A little smile lingered on his lips.

\--

Taiga woke up feeling oddly well-rested. As his brain came back online he remembered traces of Daiki coming over...and making him food...that he hand-fed him. Feeling his ears burn again, Taiga tried to pull the blanket over his head when he was met with resistance. Looking down, he saw a tanned arm on top of the blanket. He began fidgeting, hoping to get out of the situation before the other boy woke up. 

“Mmm. Stop moving Taiga. I’m comfy.”

Hearing the gruff voice right next to his ear only increased his embarrassment and subsequent fidgeting. The arm only squeezed him tighter. “Stop it before I lay on top of you.” All resistance ceased immediately.

“I have to clean.”

“I’ll help you later.”

His mind was racing to come up with any excuse to not think about how close the two had to be to fit on his couch. Nothing was working. All he could focus on was the warmth of Daiki’s body wrapped around him and the occasional puffs of air that would fan across his face. He was going to die a slow death here. 

“Why did you come over last night anyways?”

Silence. Suspicious silence. Taiga wriggled so that he was laid on top of Daiki, who was hiding his face with his arm. His ears were tinted pink. 

“So?” he prodded.

“So….” Daiki peeked above his arm. He let out a little distressed noise when he realized that Taiga was staring right at him. “I got you a little something…or well I made it.”

“You made it?”

“Well, Satsuki wanted to do try this one trend on TikTok where it's like a photobox you can make and she wanted me to do it with her. So I printed some of the pictures we took in Thailand…Anyways, it’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not. I wanna see.”

“Later. I’ll let you make fun of me later. Right now, I’m comfy.”

Taiga laughed for what felt like the first time that day. “Okay. Anyway, did you see the latest NBA game?”

And so they slipped into conversation about everything and nothing. Daiki never asked about what happened earlier that day, but Taiga had a feeling he knew anyways. He was more than grateful that he didn’t have to relive that moment. Neither boy was in a bad mood when they eventually had to clean the whole apartment, especially because Taiga made teriyaki burgers to make it up to Daiki. Not that there was anything to make up, but he knew the other appreciated it anyway. And when he saw the photobox, he did laugh because there was a mini hoop on the inside of the lid that popped up when the box was open--it was absolutely adorable. No one had ever done something like this for him before. No matter how much Daiki tried to brush it off, he could see the amount of care and detail went into the gift. 

He laughed again at the image of Daiki cursing as he fingers were getting stuck together with glue. His face would be scrunched in frustration and he would be snarling in that way that always reminded Taiga of a disgruntled cat. He never would’ve thought that the other boy would be such a generous lover, but he wasn’t really surprised. It made sense when he thought about all the loving people that had made sure that Daiki never slipped off the good path. He was so glad that Daiki never went a day without being reminded of how well he was loved. And so when he looked at that bashful smile, the words slipped out seamlessly.

“I love you.” 

He looked the other straight in the eyes and smiled with all the radiance he felt in his heart. Ah. This is what it was like to be overflowing with love. 

Raucous laughter spewed from his mouth when the other boy tackled him. “Date me?!”

“Only if you let me win the Super GT.” 

“WHAT NO! That’s a loser's way out. Fuck that.” Daiki puffed out his cheeks like a kid. But then a second later, he grabbed Taiga by the shoulder, eyes wide. “Wait, really?”

Taiga just laughed. “No, really! Stop laughing!” Daiki kept trying to meet his eyes to see if he was serious, but he just pushed the other boy’s face away. 

God, what a goofball. But now that was  _ his  _ goofball.

\--

“Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the last leg of the Super GT. We’re here today at the Twin Ring Motegi racetrack. Leading the boards right now is racer Kagami Taiga with about 10 more points than the runner up Aomine Daiki. It’s still a close race, if racer Aomine manages to win this race, he’ll be able to cinch the win. Hold on to your seats because the race is about to start!”

“There they go! 3...2...1! Already from the start, we see the twin bulls battling head to head, neither giving an inch!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH we've reached the end. Thanks for reading this far because I really didn't know where I was gonna take it. There was gonna be an epilogue but I think I'll leave it up to your guys' imagination (but also I'm saying that Aomine quits after this because he never really loved racing and decides to run an autoshop to keep an eye on all the kiddos to make sure that they don't head down a bad path. I told you he's S O F T.
> 
> Also u might think that Aomine is being OOC buuuut my headcanon is that he's a super super loving boyfriend. Like he'd spoil the shit out of his significant other because he's a clingy baby. Okay? okay. Also Kagami in this AU has significant trauma!! I tried to keep him within character but idk how well I did. 
> 
> but yes, thanks again for walking thru this journey with me, this is definitely the longest fic I've ever written and I hope that I didn't disappoint :) love u guys! until next time

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments lol, they're my fuel to keep writing!!


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